I’m a a sharp-eyed blogger!
At least that is what Sara Dickerman over at Slate says:
The skull can serve as a piratelike threat, but historically it has also symbolized bravado in the face of death—a dual meaning that has made it popular among fighting units around the world. In the United States, special operations units have gravitated toward skull imagery in their insignia. During World War II, the death’s head, or totenkopf, was a hallmark of a number of Nazi SS uniforms—something that Wal-Mart unhappily discovered three years ago when a sharp-eyed blogger noticed that some of the retailer’s trendy skull shirts featured the distinctive grimace of the SS death’s head. Wal-Mart pulled the shirts and apologized, but it shows you that you have to be choosy about your skulls.
Of course Wal-Mart never really pulled the shirts unless that means that they simply continued selling the shirts till they were all gone. That’s what they did. The important thing is that they said they pulled the shirts from the shelves. To most people, that was enough. It didn’t matter that people were still finding the t-shirts on Wal-Mart shelves even 62 weeks after they said the shirts were removed.
The important thing is that I have been identified as a sharp-eyed blogger. Maybe I should add that to me resume.
Lifelong New York Yankees fan jumps ship after only one game
Former executive producer of the Ron and Fez Show and lifelong, die-hard New York Yankees fan Earl Douglas has stopped supporting the New York Yankees and has evidently decided to instead support the Philadelphia Phillies. As this photo shows, he has even gone to the extent for replacing his Yankees hat with a Phillies hat.
Seeing Earl Douglas wear something other than a Yankees cap is a lot like seeing Rush Limbaugh wearing an Obama t-shirt.
The Phillies beat the Yankees last night in game one of the World Series, 6-1. If the Yankees win tonight, will Earl Douglas go back to being a Yankees fan? Will he only go back to supporting the Yankees if they win the World Series?
It should be noted that even though the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball ($208 million), they haven’t won a World Series since 2000.
Hopefully, it’s a trend that will continue. Like Earl Douglas, I hate the New York Yankees.
People back in the days of Lincoln were stupid
I’m currently reading Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, a history book chronicling the hunt for Abraham Lincoln’s killer, John Wilkes Booth. Whoever said that truth is stranger than fiction must have been talking about when Lincoln was assassinated. The events that lead to Booth shooting Lincoln, that if were not true, would seem too stupid, too far fetched even to be fiction.
If this book was a novel, if it was fiction, I would have stopped reading it after the second page.
It begins at the end of the American Civil War. The Confederate capitol in Richmond had been taken by Union forces and General Lee had surrendered to General Grant. The war was all but over. Lincoln had just been inaugurated for a second term as President, which oddly enough, Booth attended Lincoln’s inauguration as an invited guest.
On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln and the First Lady, Mary Lincoln, decided to go catch a play at Ford’s theater. They originally planned on attending the play with General Grant and his wife, but at the last minute, Grant backed out because of a scheduling conflict. Lincoln and his wife traveled to the theater and arrived after the play had already begun.
They went there with no security whatsoever. They didn’t have bodyguards. They had nobody with them that were responsible for their protection.
This is the thing that I just cannot wrap my brain around. It was during a time of war. Not just any war, but a civil war. A war between Americans. A war, coincidentally enough, that began because people in the southern states were angry that Abraham Lincoln won the presidency.
These people, even some living right outside Washington, hated Abraham Lincoln so much that they didn’t want to be Americans anymore.
Not only did a large percentage of the American people hate Abraham Lincoln, most of them were well armed. If you didn’t own a gun in 1865, it was because you didn’t want one. People back then regularly went around heavily armed.
How can a president that generated enough hate to start a war be allowed to wonder about without a heavily armed security force? It seems ridiculous to me that someone like Lincoln could just go to a public theater and watch a play like he was a regular person. What I find to be unbelievable about the story of Lincoln being assassinated by John Wilkes Booth was that it didn’t happen much sooner then it did.
Seriously, how could it not?
Doctor Rush Limbaugh talks about HN1N1, AIDS, and how he’s three times smarter than Kathleen Sebelius
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh spoke about the “hype” of HN1N1 virus and in doing so, claimed that AIDS in Africa is “hyped” too so that “they” can get some of that sweet AIDS donation money. Dr. Rush claimed that everything in Africa is called AIDS (near the 2:00 mark). He makes the argument that if simple colds and the regular, less lethal flu are classified as the swine flu, the money will flow.
And who exactly would be making money off of the supposed hype of the HN1N1 virus? My guess is that it would be the pharmaceutical companies that are working in overdrive producing enough of the vaccine. It is the pharmaceutical companies that would me getting rich because of a false fear over the threat of a HN1N1 pandemic.
So does that mean Rush is speaking out against the pharmaceutical industry?
Rush then goes on to speak about U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and how his IQ is three times higher than her IQ and that he is much more “informed, educated, and smart” than she is. That’s interesting in that Rush is a college dropout while Sebelius not only graduated college, she went on to earn a Master’s degree.
How exactly is Rush better educated than Sebelius?
I actually find most of what Limbaugh has to say about any given topic quite entertaining. Though I disagree with 99.99% of the stuff he says, I cannot help but admit that he is a master as what he does. Nobody comes close to his level of skill at talking into a microphone for three hours a day. I think most of what he says is quite harmless. The problem is when he talks about something such as the HN1N1 virus. The swine flu is not something to fool around with. In 1918, a massive swine flu pandemic took place and an estimated 50 to 100 million people died worldwide. If even one person heard his rant about the supposed hype and then decided not to go and get a swine flu shot, that is one person too many.
Hate crimes bill is signed into law
President Obama today signed into law a provision on a defense authorization bill that would make it a federal offense to assault or murder someone based on their sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity.
It’s about time.
It’s bad enough for one person to harm another person. What’s even worse is when someone is harmed or even killed because of the color of their skin, their race, or their sexual orientation. Not only is it a crime against the person who is attacked, but it sends an intimidating message to the people who are just like the attack victim.
The bill was inspired by what happened to Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming student that was horrifically tortured and left for dead by two men simply because Shepard was gay. When he was discovered strapped to a fence 18 hours after the attack, the person who found Shepard didn’t even know he was a person. His body was so severely beaten and disfigured, he looked to be a scarecrow.
Matthew Shepard was in a severe coma and never woke up. He died from his injuries a week later.
I cannot imagine what Matthew Shepard went though. I also cannot imagine the terror other gay men felt when the news of Matthew Shepard’s murder became public. Two man murdered Matthew Shepard because they wanted to kill someone who was gay. If it wasn’t Shepard, it might have been some other random gay man.
People shouldn’t have to live under the fear of physical harm or even death because of their race, their nationality, their religion, their sex, or even their sexual orientation. With this law, maybe now it will be easier for people to do just that.
Who knew losing paid so well?
Word came out yesterday that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was paid a $1.25 million advance for her memoir, Going Rogue. Being that she was still the governor of Alaska when she received the payment, she had to report it on some kind of official state form. If it wasn’t for that, I guess we wouldn’t have found out that she cashed in to such an extent.
If it didn’t appear on an official government form, who would have thought publisher HarperCollins would have paid so much for Sarah Palin’s memoir? Not that fudging an official government form would be something Palin wouldn’t do. She is after all a Rogue. It’s just that when people falsify financial forms, they generally under report, not over report.
I think it’s remarkable that Sarah Palin would get paid so much for writing a book that chronicles so little. After all, it’s her memoir, right? What has she done in her life that would be interesting enough to require a book? She was governor of Alaska, but she quit her before her first term was complete. She ran as John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate, but she lost.
Lieberman threatens to filibuster with Republicans against health care reform
Shocker of all shockers, U.S. Senator from Connecticut Joe Lieberman is threatening to filibuster with the Republicans against any health care reform bill if it contains a public option, something Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says it will have.
To say that Joe Lieberman is a weasel is an insult to weasels.
It’s almost hard to remember that Lieberman was the 2000 Democratic nominee for Vice-President. That almost seems like a bazillion years ago or that it took place in some other alternate universe. My how things change. Connecticut Democrats refused to make him their nominee in 2006 and instead picked someone else. Someone who was not Joe Lieberman. They voted for Ned Lamont, not Joe Lieberman.
Lieberman responded to the will of the Connecticut Democratic voters by telling them to go take a hike. He ran as an “independent” and defeated Lamont and whoever else the Republicans put up against Lamont.
I thought it was shameful on the part of Lieberman. The guy was the Democratic nominee for Vice-President in 2000 and six years later he ran against and defeated a Democrat in a general election. He’s a Democrat when it’s convenient for him and he’s an “independent” when it’s not.
I have a fairly low opinion of Joe Lieberman. Maybe that wasn’t clear.
Tacos are from Mexico, not Colombia
From the AP (via the Huffington Post):
During ESPN’s broadcast of the Minnesota-Ohio State game Saturday, a graphic was shown listing the top five drivers in NASCAR’s points race. Fellow analyst Chris Spielman asked where was Montoya, who is Colombian.
Griese replied he was “out having a taco.”
Not only was the comment racist, worse, it was ignorant. A taco is a delicious dish from Mexico. NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya is from Colombia, not Mexico. Colombia and Mexico are different countries. Granted, Montoya has brown skin and Spanish is his first language, but that doesn’t mean he’s Mexican.
Not all brown skinned, Spanish speaking people are taco eating Mexicans.
Ignorant racism is the worst kind of racism. It’s bad enough to judge someone not because of the content of their character, but the color of their skin or their ethnic origins. What’s even worse is when you are too stupid to get the ethnicity right.
Is it too much to ask for a person who speaks on TV for a living to know the difference between a Mexican and a Colombian when they are going to insult them?
Bob Griese is an idiot. He’s not just some 64-year old ignoramus sitting at the bar at his local VFW cracking racial jokes. He’s a college football analyst. He’s supposed to be smarter than you. The networks think you are too stupid to watch a football game and understand what you are seeing without someone like him telling you what you are seeing. It’s bad enough that Griese and every other TV annalist have to run their mouths, talking incessantly during a football game. It’s even worse when they say stupid, idiotic things that have nothing to do with the football game they are being paid to analyze.
Things like saying someone from Colombia is “out having a taco.”
Harry Reid announces that he is for the public option, but only if states can opt out
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today that the health reform bill he will bring to the Senate floor will have a public option, but it will include the provision that individual states could opt out if they want to.
My guess is that the only reason Reid is now for the public option is because he knows what everyone else knows; that 6 in 10 Americans are in favor of the public option.
Only a few months ago Reid said he was only for the public option if it was run not by the government, but by a private entity.
As I’ve blogged before, I’m really curious to see how the whole opt out thing would work. Not that I’m so curious that I would want to see a Republican governor deny the people in his or her state the ability to have access to quality and affordable health care.
I’m not that curious.
I imagine it would be a real wedge issue during gubernatorial elections. Living here in Maryland, I am blessed with seeing political commercials from candidates not only here in Maryland, but in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia too. Right now there’s a heated campaign going on in Virginia for governor. The Democrat is getting attacked because when he says he wont raise taxes, it somehow secretly means he will raise taxes. The Republican is getting attacked because he once wrote that working women were a detriment the American family and that birth control should be illegal.
Imagine the attack ads against Republican candidates for governor when voters see commercials warning them that a vote for the Republican means they will lose their public option health insurance.
Who knows, maybe that’s the point.
Ruth didn’t build this house and coincidently, it’s falling apart
The concrete pedestrian ramps at the new Yankee Stadium are cracking, and nobody seems to know why. These are the same concrete pedestrian ramps built by a company that is rumored to have connections to the mob. Then again, if it’s concrete related and it’s in New York City, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the mafia is connected.
Personally, I don’t think it’s shoddy work, a bad design, or watered down concrete. I think it’s the wrath of God. I think God is a baseball fan (and why wouldn’t he be?) and he’s tired of the way the Yankees throw their filthy money around, mucking things up for everyone else.
Maybe you don’t agree. Maybe you think it’s a good thing that the Yankees are able to pay CC Sabathia so much money that his children’s children’s children will never have to work a day in their lives. I just think it’s a shame that there isn’t a way that would allow Sabathia’s descendants to be spared the unpleasantness of working for a living, but would still allow Sabathia to remain a Cleveland Indian for as long as he played baseball.
Or until he stopped being good at getting guys out.
Now you might not agree with me, but don’t be surprised if more strange things happen, things to do with the New York and/or the Yankees. For example, if the Hudson River turns to blood or if millions of locust descend upon the Triborough Bridge.
Those are the kind of things that happen when God gets mad. Bad things happen. Don’t take my word for it, look it up in the Old Testament.
At Wal-Mart the savings just don’t stop
We stopped by Wal-Mart yesterday and I spotted this sign announcing a sale on wireless printers, Lexmark Z2420 printers to be exact. Wal-Mart was selling them for $58.88 which is pretty good since Lexmark lists them a $79.99.
Evidently that wasn’t good enough of a savings for Wal-Mart. As the photo shows, the lowered the price from $59.88 to $59.00, a whopping sum of eighty-eight cents.
In case you couldn’t figure that out for yourself, Wal-Mart is nice enough to point this fact out. It’s as if they don’t want to bother you with doing the hard math, they just want you to save some money on a wireless printer.
Eighty-eight cents to be exact.
There ought to be a rule against checking a man’s skull into the glass from behind
There was a scary moment last night during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Colorado Avalanche. Tuomo Ruutu from the Hurricanes leveled this dirty and illegal hit on Darcy Tucker from the Colorado Avalanche:
Tucker was knocked out cold from the hit and left a puddle of blood on the ice. He regained consciousness as he was being carted off the ice. The gash on his head required 40 stitches.
The NHL levied a messily three game suspension on Ruutu for the hit. That just doesn’t seem enough punishment. Tucker will be out of commission for at least 10 days. Ruutu should at the very least miss as many games as Tucker. Better yet, Ruutu should be deported back to Finland where he belongs.
Chad Ochocinco gets fined $10,000 for wearing the wrong colored chin strap
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was fined ten grand by the NFL on Friday for a uniform violation. It seems last week when the Bengals played the Houston Texans, Ochocinco wore a chin strap on his helmet that was the wrong color. Instead of the regular white chin strap like all the other Bengal players were wearing, Ochocinco was sporting a black one.
Oh no. The horror.
In his defense, his illegal black chin strap did match his black facemask. Also, a quick Google image search shows that Ochocinco routinely wears a different colored chinstrap. Sometimes he even wears an orange one. If the NFL really cares what color chin straps it’s players wear, it seems they’ve been doing a really bad job at paying attention to such things.
I think fines like this are stupid. All it does is points out to everyone that NFL players make so much money that if they happen to wear the wrong colored chin strap, they are fined more money than the average family of four would spend on a fancy European vacation. What’s even worse is that when a player such as Ochocinco receives a fine like this, he acts like he doesn’t even care.
He acts this way because he really truly doesn’t care. Why would he? Ten grand is nothing to him.
If the NFL really wanted to stop players from wearing the wrong chin straps or the wrong kind of socks, they should get more creative. Simple $10,000 fines don’t work with millionaires.
Hagerstown Waldenbooks is closing
The Waldenbooks in the Hagerstown Valley Mall is closing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised in that Hagerstown has a Borders and Borders and Waldenbooks are owned by the same corporate overlords. I guess in this economy, the Hagerstown area cannot support two corporate book stores. Compounding this problem, a massive Books-A-Million store just opened down the road in nearby Martinsburg, West Virginia.
The store is located in the mall near the food court and the multiplex movie theater. When a comic book movie would be playing in the theater, someone from the bookstore would put a display of trade paperbacks pertaining to the movie near the store’s entrance. People walking by would see these trade paperbacks. Maybe some of them stopped and looked at the trade paperbacks. Perhaps some of them even bought a book or two. It always seemed like a smart move.
I’m going to miss Waldenbooks. Before Borders opened, it was the only real bookstore in town. I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the mall without visiting Waldenbooks.
Republican Congressman from Mississippi jokes about hunting liberials
Someone from Politico asked Representative Gregg Harper, Republican from Mississippi, what the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus does. Evidently he is a member of this organization. His answer was somewhat surprising:
We hunt liberal, tree-hugging Democrats, although it does seem like a waste of good ammunition.
If Representative Gregg Harper were ever to checkout my Facebook page, he would see that I label my political orientation as “tree hugging liberal”. Mostly I labeled myself this way as a joke, but like all good jokes, and don’t get me wrong, I am in no way saying this is a good joke, it’s based firmly in the truth.
I like trees and I’m proudly liberal. So does this mean Harper wants to shoot me?
Being that Harper is from Mississippi, I’m surprised he would make jokes about killing liberals. Mississippi has a really bad track record in that department. They even made a movie about it once, called Mississippi Burning.
When did it become acceptable in our country for one of our elected officials to joke about killing his fellow citizens because of their political beliefs?
Roscoe Bartlett, the individual representing me in the House of Representatives, once referred to Democrats, people like me, as the enemy. At least he didn’t talk about shooting me.
Rush Limbaugh tells CNN reporter Carol Costello to go sit on a fire hydrant
CNN reporter Carol Costello did a segment yesterday as part of an ongoing series on political talk radio and she started with the king of political talk radio, Rush Limbaugh. This of course irritated Limbaugh. Not only did he refer to Costello as his “stalker”, he encouraged her to go sit on a fire hydrant to improve her day.
Whatever that means.
And to think he’s surprised that the NFL doesn’t want him to join their cabal of team owners.
The ironic thing is that Limbaugh used to date CNN news reporter Daryn Kagan, who left the cable news network in 2006. Kagan used to work with Costello at CNN. Did Kagan perhaps tell Limbaugh something personal about Costello involving fire hydrants?
It just seems like a weird comment to make, even for a recovering drug addict like Limbaugh.
Looks like Balloon Boy’s father is in trouble with the law
Evidently orchestrating a hoax involving a Mylar weather balloon and your 6-year-old son is against the law. Go figure.
Richard Heene, father of Falcon Heene, the Fort Collins, Colorado boy made famous after it was believed he was ridding in an experimental helium balloon, according to Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden, will be charged in connection to the hoax. A hoax designed by Richard Heene in the hopes that the publicity would get him back on TV. The Heene family appeared on the ABC reality show Wife Swap. It’s this stupid show where women from two families “swap” places and then we the television viewers get to watch the high jinks that somehow always ensue.
It’s as though the families are working off a script or something.
The boy of course was not in the balloon, but instead was hiding in a box in the attic. The family later appeared on CNN and 6-year-old Falcon blurted out “we did this for a show.” Unfortunately for CNN, Wolf Blitzer was conducting the interview and he was too stupid to realize what young Falcon had just said.
Sheriff’s deputies and detectives were seen entering the Heene home early this morning to conduct a search of the home. Undoubtedly they found lots and lots of evidence that can be used against Heene. This guy appears to be too stupid to have gotten rid of anything that would point to his guilt.
Ray Lewis is not talking about no fine
The NFL announced yesterday that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis has been fined $25,000 for two separate dirty plays in the fourth quarter of Baltimore’s 17-14 loss on Sunday. In one of the plays, Lewis evidently thought he was the Karate Kid and kicked an opponent. In another, Lewis executed a viscous helmet-to-helmet hit on Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco after the receiver failed to make a catch. Lewis was penalized for the hit and as a result, the Bengals were awarded 15 yards and another first down. The penalty helped set up the game winning touchdown with only seconds remaining.
All because Ray Lewis couldn’t control himself.
It’s not his fault though. He could not help it. It’s because he’s like a missile:
“But the bottom line is, when I turn to go, I’m like a missile. When I’m locked in, I’m locked in. Whatever’s there is there. Worrying about fines and all that, I’ll let that take care of itself. The NFL does a great job with that. You call them and discuss it with them.”
On Friday, Lewis said, “I’m not talking about no fine.”
It’s important to note that Ray Lewis was “locked on” to a receiver who did not even have the ball. Not that the hit would have been clean if Chad Ochocinco had in fact caught the ball. It was still a dirty helmet-to-helmet hit.
Thanks to my time spent in the Air Force as an electronic warfare systems technician, missiles is one of those rare things that I happen to actually know something about. If Ray Lewis is in fact “like a missile”, he’s a defective one.
Missiles that lock on to false targets are defective.
Fining players like Ray Lewis is a waste of time. He still believes that he didn’t so anything wrong, and that’s really too bad since he will be allowed to take the field Sunday when the Baltimore Ravens take on the Minnesota Vikings. Will he once again “lock on” to the wrong target and because of this, drive his helmet into the helmet of an opposing player while traveling at a high rate of speed?
Ray Lewis probably spends $25,000 a year on his obnoxious looking gold clothing. If the NFL really wanted to penalize players like Ray Lewis for using their helmets as a weapon, they ought to make him spend a few days working with paraplegics or people with severe spine injuries. Maybe then Ray Lewis and players like him would realize just how serious this issue is.
Shepard Fairey is a liar
Shepard Fairey, the artist that created the iconic poster of then Senator Barack Obama with the word “Hope”, has admitted that he lied when he said he didn’t base the poster on an Associated Press photo. A photo taken by photographer Mannie Garcia and owned by the AP.
Last February, the AP claimed that Fairey based the poster on one of their copyrighted photos. Fairey responded to this by suing the AP. He said that his poster was protected under fair use and besides, he used a different photo. A photo not owned by the AP.
Fairey posted the following statement on his website:
In an effort to keep everyone up to date on my legal battle to uphold the principle of fair use in copyright laws, I wanted to notify you of a recent development in my case against The Associated Press (AP).
On October 9, 2009, my lawyers sent a letter to the AP and to the photographer Mannie Garcia, through their lawyers, notifying them that I intend to amend my court pleadings. Throughout the case, there has been a question as to which Mannie Garcia photo I used as a reference to design the HOPE image. The AP claimed it was one photo, and I claimed it was another.
The new filings state for the record that the AP is correct about which photo I used as a reference and that I was mistaken. While I initially believed that the photo I referenced was a different one, I discovered early on in the case that I was wrong.
In an attempt to conceal my mistake I submitted false images and deleted other images. I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment and I take full responsibility for my actions which were mine alone. I am taking every step to correct the information and I regret I did not come forward sooner.
I am very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family who have supported me in this difficult case and trying time in my life.
I am also sorry because my actions may distract from what should be the real focus of my case – the right to fair use so that all artists can create freely. Regardless of which of the two images was used, the fair use issue should be the same.
- Shepard
Rush Limbaugh will not be an NFL owner
Right wing conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been dropped from the group of investors that want to purchase the St. Louis Rams. Evidently this is some kind of victory for civil rights activists because some of them balked at the idea of someone like Rush Limbaugh, who’s made several racially insensitive comments over the years on his popular radio show, owning a football team.
The difference with Limbaugh and every other rich white guy in his late 50’s is that Limbaugh says what he says in public.
Even though I’m a tree hugging liberal, I’ve always admired Rush Limbaugh. Not because I agree with his politics, because I don’t, but because he’s very good at what he does. If you are a fan of talk radio, you cannot help but notice that he is the best at what he does. There are many other right wing radio talk show hosts on the air, but none are as good at what they do as Limbaugh.
Does Limbaugh say some outrageous stuff that borders on racism? Perhaps, but that’s his job. He’s a conservative talk radio host that talks for a living. He has a massive audience and he knows what they want to hear. Is he a racist? Maybe, but why would a racist want to own a team that plays in a league where most of the players are black? If Limbaugh is a racist, maybe the thing he needs to do is to interact with more black people, something he would easily be able to do if he was a part owner of an NFL team.
The current health care reform bill is a sweetheart deal for insurance companies
The Senate Finance Committee passed the health care bill crafted by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) 14-9, with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), casting the sole Republican vote.
I don’t know why more Republicans didn’t vote for this bill. If you didn’t know that it was written by a Democrat, you would think it was written by a health insurance lobbyist.
There’s no public option. There’s a mandate that everyone must have health insurance. If someone’s employer doesn’t offer health insurance, they must go and purchase health insurance on the open market and pay whatever the health insurance industry says they will have to pay. The only way this so-called “public mandate” makes sense is if people have the option of purchasing not-for-profit health insurance managed by the government.
My guess is that health insurance companies will start offering no-frills, “compliance” policies that will be health insurance in name only. They wont really help you when you or sick or injured and need medical attention, but will instead allow you to be compliant with the new requirement to have health insurance.
The purpose of a health insurance company is not to make people healthy, but to generate profit for it’s investors. Even if people have health insurance, too many times, a catastrophic health crisis will result in having to declare personal bankruptcy because of co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses not covered by their health insurance.
What’s the point of having Democrats in charge if this is the best we can do?
‘Zombieland’
Zombieland, directed by Ruben Fleischer and starting Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, is a fantastic movie. I love zombies. I love comedies. Oddly enough, the two genres go together like chocolate and peanut butter. First there was Shaun of the Dead and now Zombieland.
Who knew the undead apocalypse could be so funny?
Woody Harrelson is fantastic. He hasn’t been this funny since Cheers. Then again, I don’t know if he’s played a comedic role lately. Most of the movies he’s appeared in lately have been dramas.
Zombieland isn’t a drama.
There’s a major cameo in the movie that I don’t want to spoil for anyone. He didn’t appear in any of the commercials or the trailers, so I don’t want to mention who it is.
Speaking of commercials, the Johnny Cash song, Country Boy, appeared in the commercials for Zombieland, but didn’t appear in the movie. I hate when this happens. After seeing the commercial for Zombieland numerous times, I identify the the song with the movie. It’s annoying when the song doesn’t appear in the film.
Because ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ ain’t a kids movie
Newsweek sat down with Where The Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak to talk about the live action adaptation of his book. Joining in on the interview was the film director Spike Jonze and novelist-screenwriter Dave Eggers.
This was my favorite part of the interview:
What do you say to parents who think the Wild Things film may be too scary?
Sendak: I would tell them to go to hell. That’s a question I will not tolerate.
Because kids can handle it?
Sendak: If they can’t handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it’s not a question that can be answered.
Jonze: Dave, you want to field that one?
Eggers: The part about kids wetting their pants? Should kids wear diapers when they go to the movies? I think adults should wear diapers going to it, too. I think everyone should be prepared for any eventuality.
I must say, I like the cut of Sendak’s jib. Truer words have never been spoken, “If they can’t handle it, go home.” Not only does this bit of advice apply to this movie, but to just about everything else in life.
If you take your children to a movie and they become frightened to the extent that they are clearly disturbed and causing a scene, then by all means leave the theater. Why would someone even have to be told this?
I’m looking forward to seeing this movie. I never read Where The Wild Things Are when I was a kid and I don’t know why. It’s a story that features monsters. As a kid, I loved all things monster related even more than I loved macaroni & cheese or ice cream sandwiches. I can remember seeing this book in the library, I just never read it.
Act like a thug, get treated like a thug
Jamison Hensley from the Baltimore Sun wrote an article asking the question if perhaps the Baltimore Ravens are being “overscrutinized” by the NFL and it’s officials.
From the Baltimore Sun:
The questionable roughing-the-passer penalties in the Ravens’ 27-21 loss Sunday to the New England Patriots have spurred a national debate on whether Tom Brady is being overprotected by officials.
But there is another issue: Are the Ravens being overscrutinized?
I don’t think it’s possible to “overscrutinize” (is that even a word?) the Baltimore Ravens defense, especially linebackers Terrell Suggs or Ray Lewis.
They try to hurt people.
Terrell Suggs once went on a Baltimore radio show and spoke about how the defense puts “bounties” on opposing players. They aren’t content with merely making sound tackles and good football plays, they want to hurt people.
Ray Lewis is a thug, on and off the field. Before games he attempts to pump up his teammates by leading them in ridiculous chants about knocking people out. These Lewis led spectacles are routinely televised for the viewing public, which I’m guessing is one of the reasons they happen in the first place. Personally speaking, I don’t want to see anyone get “knocked out”. I think it’s a bad thing when a player gets hurt and lays motionless on the field. I for one don’t want to see it. The goal should be to make these type of events far less common than they currently are.
Even once is too much.
Football is entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less. I don’t want someone to get paralyzed (or worse) for the sake of my entertainment. It’s the main reason I don’t watch professional wrestling anymore. Too many guys were getting paralyzed or even killed fake-fighting for the sake of entertainment.
I don’t think the officials calling the game should ever give these two players, Suggs or Lewis, the benefit of the doubt when it comes to late hits or unnecessary roughness. When it comes to either Suggs or Lewis, when in doubt, throw the flag.
It will be the right thing to do far more than not.
I watched the Cincinnati Bengals play the Baltimore Ravens yesterday afternoon. Living in Maryland, my choices in watching football are extremely limited. How ironic it was that a dirty, helmet-to-helmet hit by Ray Lewis on a defenseless Bengals player who did not even have the ball gave the Bengals 15 yards and even more importantly, another first down. The Bengals were able to continue marching down the field and they eventually scored a game winning touchdown.
Made possible because Ray Lewis couldn’t control himself. He wanted to knock someone out and his team lost the game because of it.
Marge Simpson to appear in ‘Playboy’
Marge Simpson, the blue haired wife of Homer and mother to Bart, Lisa, and Maggie will appear in the November issue of Playboy. They say that it’s the first time that a cartoon character has appeared on the front cover of the magazine. I’m guessing that it will also be the first time someone has appeared in the magazine with blue pubic hair, unless of course the drapes don’t match the carpet.
Every time something like this happens, it reminds me that Playboy is still being published. For the life of me I can’t figure out why. Magazine sales have been plummeting ever since the popularity of the Internet took off. People are turning away from traditional print media, whether it be newspapers or magazines, and instead they are accessing content on the Internet. Not only is it more convenient, it’s far more timely. By the time you read something in a magazine, it was probably on the Internet days, weeks, or even months earlier.
Playboy is especially susceptible to the threat posed by the Internet because it’s entire business model is based on giving men access to images of nude woman. Why would a man want to purchase a magazine containing images of naked females when such images can be easily found online? Or so I’ve been told.
Finding out that Playboy is still being published is a lot like finding out people are still using rotary phones.
Obama promises to end ‘don’t ask-don’t tell’
President Obama spoke at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group, and restated one of his campaign promises that he will end “don’t ask-don’t tell”, the controversial program in the military that prohibits authorities from asking a service member if he or she is gay, along with prohibiting service members from announcing that they are gay.
Authorities can’t “ask”, and service members can’t “tell”.
The program is often confused with the practice of banning gay people from serving in the military. It is not that. Even under don’t ask-don’t tell (DADT), homosexuality is still banned in the military. Changing that policy would require Congress to change the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). All DADT does is to take much of the investigative power out of the hands of the various military investigative agencies that before DADT, would routinely engage in modern day witch hunts aimed at drumming out gay service members.
It would be like instead of passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress passed some other silly law that said authorities couldn’t just come out and ask someone if they were black. People also couldn’t just come out and tell people they were black. As long as someone didn’t admit that they were black, they could ride at the front of the bus or sit at the lunch counter like anyone else. They wouldn’t be required to drink from a water fountain labeled for Negros. Once they publicly admitted that they were black, they would have to ride in the back of the bus and stop eating at the lunch counter.
I served with all sorts of people in the military, even gay people. I learned that they can be just as adept at performing their military duties as anyone else. People are people. Banning someone from serving in the military because they are gay is just as retarded as banning someone from serving because of the color or their skin.
I think it’s great the President Obama wants to end the ban on gay people serving in the military. I guess he can add it to the list of stuff he promised to do if he was elected. Eventually though, he’s going to have to start crossing things off that list. Hopefully he starts doing it sooner rather than later.
This is one of the reasons people hate the New York Yankees
What would post-season, October baseball be without the New York Yankees benefiting from a “questionable” call? Seriously, this is just ridiculous. Umpire Phil Cuzzi was standing right there watching the ball land in fair territory and then bounce into the stands. It should have been a ground rule double. Instead, it was strike two for Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Maurer.
The score was tied 3-3 in the 11th inning with no outs.
Umpire Phil Cuzzi is no stranger to controversy. He has a track record of making controversial calls. He shouldn’t have been anywhere near this game, especially considering that he lives in New Jersey and likely has a bias when it comes to the New York Yankees. Is it a stretch to think that a guy who was born and raised in Newark probably grew up rooting for the Yankees?
I think not.
Seriously, this is a travesty. Because the first round of the playoffs is only five games long instead of the regular seven, blown calls like this one are even more egregious than normal. Coincidentally, the Yankees seems to always seem to be the ones benefiting from something like this.
NASA attacks the Moon
NASA sent a rocket into one of the craters on the Moon yesterday on the southern pole in the hopes that the rocket traveling nearly 6,ooo miles an hour would send up a massive plume of dust on impact so that a trailing probe could fly through the plume and analyze it for water.
The resulting plume of Moon dust was over 6 miles high.
Water (H2O) is important because it’s so expensive to take up to space. I once read that it cost $50,000 to take one gallon of water to space. Now I don’t know if that’s true, but I know that water is heavy, so in that regard, it does make sense. With water, oxygen can be extracted to make breathable air. Hydrogen can be extracted to make rocket fuel.
Water is important. It would be so much easy to send people to the Moon for extended periods of time if they could harvest water from the Moon’s dust.
It turns out my hands really like being unemployed
It turns out out that getting laid off from my job as an electronics tech last month does have at least one positive side effect; The psoriasis on my hands is practically gone.
Granted, there are a few tiny rough spots, but if you compare this photo with the one from June 15, 2009, it’s like night and day.
Of my two hands, my left hand is the only one with any psoriasis. As this photo shows, I have a few spots here and there, but nothing really serious. Nothing that I can’t just put a band-aid on and go forth and have a regular life.
My right hand is completely psoriasis free.
I should point out that I’m not taking any psoriasis medications. No steroid creams, no oral medications, and no hardcore biologic injections. I’m not even seeing a dermatologist, nor will I ever see one again.
I essentially gave up on getting my psoriasis cured.
As far as I can tell, the only thing that has caused my psoriasis to go away is that I’m not working. I’m not subjecting my hands to the trauma of working and using tools. So what’s this mean? Well, I guess it means that I should try to find a job where I don’t work with my hands. A job where I don’t have to use tools. A job where I don’t have to do any soldering.
I’m sure I’ll have no problem doing that, especially considering the current job market.
President Barack Obama wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
Hardcore teabagging Republicans already believe that President Barack Obama is just like Adolf Hitler because he wants every American to have access to quality health care. How on earth are they going to take the news that President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize?
They are probably drawing little Hitler mustaches on his face at this very minute.
I’ll admit that I like the man and that I voted for him to be president. In fact, we still have an Obama-Biden bumper sticker on both our cars. I think he’s doing a somewhat good job as president. Granted, he hasn’t started pulling combat troops out of Iraq like he said he would, but I have faith that he will get around to doing what he said he would do about Iraq.
I’m just not seeing what he’s done to warrant winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Read the full article »
Gun totting soccer mom found shot dead
Pennsylvania mother Meleanie Hain drew national attention last year when she showed up at her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game with a handgun strapped to her hip.
She’s in the news once again and unfortunately for her, it is gun related. Meleanie Hain and her husband Scott Hain were found shot to death last night in their home in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
The police are treating it as a murder-suicide.
The couple’s three children, ages 2, 6 and 10, ran from the house last night and told neighbors that their father shot their mother. Read the full article »
Let the Major League Baseball Divisional Series games begin!
The post-season officially starts today for Major League Baseball (MLB) and according the Awful Announcing, this is the TV schedule for all the divisional series games:
Wednesday, October 7th
- Colorado Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game #1 (TBS, 2:30pm)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
- Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees, Game #1 (TBS, 6pm)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers, Game #1 (TBS, 9:30pm)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
Thursday, October 8th
- Colorado Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game #2 (TBS, 2:30pm)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
- St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers, Game #2 (TBS, 6pm)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Boston Red Sox @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Game #1 (TBS, 9:30pm)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Friday, October 9th
- Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees, Game #2 (TBS, 6pm)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Boston Red Sox @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Game #2 (TBS, 9:30pm)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Saturday, October 10th
- Los Angeles Dodgers @ St. Louis Cardinals, Game #3 (TBS, 6:30pm)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Philadelphia Phillies @ Colorado Rockies, Game #3 (TBS, 10pm)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
Sunday, October 11th
- Los Angeles Dodgers @ St. Louis Cardinals, Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Philadelphia Phillies @ Colorado Rockies, Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
- New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins, Game #3 (TBS, TBD)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Boston Red Sox, Game #3 (TBS, TBD)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Monday, October 12th
- New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins , Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Boston Red Sox, Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Tuesday, October 13th
- St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers, Game #5* (TBS, TBD)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Colorado Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game #5* (TBS, TBD)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
Wednesday, October 14th
- Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees, Game #5* (TBS, TBD)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Boston Red Sox @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Game #5 (TBS, TBD) Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Federal Trade Commission tells bloggers to stop acting like sleazeballs
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued revisions to guides that cover disclosure rules concerning endorsements, specifically endorsements coming from bloggers. The new guidelines state that if a blogger receives money in exchange for writing a review of a service or product, they must state this fact in the review.
From the FTC website:
The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization.
So what does this mean? It means that if a blogger writes about how much they enjoy website hosting from Go Daddy, but fail to mention that they are receiving a payment from Go Daddy in exchange for the positive word-of-mouth endorsement, they are in violation of the law. In fact, even if they are only receiving free website hosting from Go Daddy and they fail to mention this fact, they are in violation of the law. The FTC guidelines state that bloggers must disclose any “material connection” they have with the product that a normal, regular consumer would not have. That means that if you are reviewing a book on your blog and you received a copy of the book free-of-charge from the publisher, you need to disclose this fact.
I think this is a good thing. Then again, I’m biased. I blog as a hobby. I don’t run advertisements here. If I say I like something and recommend it to others, it’s because that’s what I really think. If I talk about how much I enjoyed a book or a movie, it’s because I went out on my own and procured the book or the movie like anybody else. When I state that I love Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, it’s because I truly love it. It’s not because I’ve been paid by Dunkin’ Donuts or because they’ve plied me with free coffee.
Every opinion I espouse here on this blog is mine and mine alone.
Chandelier made from paperclips and cardboard drink carriers
Check out this neat looking chandelier made with metal spring paperclips and those disposable pulpy cardboard things they give you at fast food joints to carry up to four cups at once. I found it over at the Apartment Therapy Re-Nest blog. They said it’s made with egg cartons, but to me it looks like the carriers they give out at Dunkin’ Donuts when you purchase more than one coffee.
I want to make one of these. Maybe I’ll go out to Dunkin’ Donuts and purchase 24 cups of coffee to go. I am kind of thirty right now.
I’m wondering how it’s illuminated. Does it have one low-wattage bulb or is it using a string of tiny Christmas lights with the bulbs positioned at the openings? I’m guessing it’s using Christmas lights.
Apple fights Australian grocery store over vaguely similar looking logo
Evidently there’s a chain of Australian grocery stores named Woolworths that chose a logo that the powers that be at Apple believe looks just like their logo. You know, that logo that looks like an Apple.
Apple is attempting to block Woolworths from registering the logo with the Australian agency that is in charge of such things.
Personally, I’m not seeing that much of a similarity. Woolworths claims the logo represents the letter “W” shaped like an apple. Not the kind of Apple that makes overpriced computers and fancy cellphones, but the kind that grow on trees and are used to make delicious pies.
If anything, the Woolworths logo looks like something an Islamic terrorist would wear on his headband.
Jon Gosselin drained the marital bank account
Kate Gosselin says that her soon-to-be ex-husband Jon Gosselin withdrew more than $200,000 from the couple’s joint bank account last week without her knowledge, leaving her with only a mere $1,000. She told NBC that she now has a stack of bills that need to be paid and she has no way of paying them.
Isn’t this just what people do when they go through a divorce? One spouse drains the bank account before the other spouse thinks of doing themselves?
Evidently a judge issued an order a while back stating that neither Gosselin could take money out without first getting it approved by the court, but what does something like that mean to Jon Gosselin? He’s a rebel. He wears Ed Hardy shirts adorned with tigers and dragons. He smokes cigarettes and rides ATVs. He dates teenage whores and wears studs in both earlobes.
Rules and judges are for squares, and Jon Gosselin ain’t no square.
He’s also out of a job. Not that he really had a job, but it was announced last week the TLC is dropping his name from the show. Instead of Jon & Kate Plus 8, the show will now be called Kate Plus 8.
Nice sunglasses buddy
There’s a Native American Indian Pow Wow going on this weekend at the Hagerstown Raceway. The Herald-Mail was kind enough to run photos from yesterday’s event so people like me can see some of the sights without having to go to the trouble of venturing out to the raceway and ponying up the $5 admission fee.
It’s not like I haven’t seen a pow wow before. I was once at the Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick when one of these hokey events was taking place in the mall’s center square. I stood there in the mall and watched for a couple of minutes. I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing. What I saw were people that were supposedly honoring their ancestor’s culture and spiritual beliefs by prancing around the mall dressed in costumes made with synthetic materials. Nearly all of the participants were wearing eye glasses, something their ancestors probably didn’t do even if they weren’t lucky enough to have perfect eyesight. One of the female participants was wearing a costume made from pink buckskin.
Though there are many words I could use to describe what I saw, the words “traditional” or “authentic” would not be included.
The whole thing just seemed tacky. It would have been different if what I saw were people engaged in the historic and authentic reproduction of their ancestor’s beliefs. I didn’t see that. I saw something a lot different than that. Instead of honoring their ancestors, if anything, what they were doing was actually dishonoring those beliefs.
Unemployment rose to 9.8% in September
The Labor Department announced that the official unemployment rate rose to a whopping 9.8% last month. That number is based on how many people are currently receiving unemployment benefits. That means that if you are unemployed, but you are not receiving benefits, you and the fact that you don’t have a job, is not factored into this total number.
I’m part of this 9.8%. As I blogged earlier, I was permanently laid off by my employer on September 15 and I’m now receiving unemployment benefits. Though I live in Maryland, I worked in Pennsylvania. Because of this, I’m receiving unemployment compensation from Pennsylvania, not Maryland.
I’ve got nothing but praise for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Because of where I worked, I’ve been going through the Lancaster UC Service Center. Take everything you’ve ever heard about government bureaucrats and throw it out the window when it comes to these people. They’ve been nothing but helpful and exceptionally nice. I’ve called them on two different occasions and both times the person I spoke was totally helpful. When I submitted my first biweekly claim over the Internet, a person from the Lancaster office walked me through the entire process over the phone. It made the whole process a lot less stressful.
Take it from me, when you are jobless, less stressful is good.
2016 Summer Olympics wont be in Chicago
The International Olympic Committee voted today on what city would host the 2016 Summer Olympics and they eliminated Chicago from contention very quickly. In fact, the Windy City was eliminated in the very first round of voting. The IOC went on to award Rio de Janeiro with the privilege of hosting the 2016 Summer Games.
Though I’ve never been to Rio de Janeiro, I have been to Chicago. It’s because of this fact that I never really quite understood why Chicago was ever in the running to be a host city.
Who wants to go to Chicago?
It’s not a fun place to go. The traffic is terrible. Crime is high. The people there never seemed very interested in making strangers feel all that welcome. Back when I did a lot of traveling, Chicago ranked right up there with Detroit when it came to places I did not want to visit. Perhaps the voting members of the IOC agree with me.
I guess now President Obama can concentrate on his job and stop fooling around with which city will host the Olympics in 2016.
David Letterman admits to having sexual relationships with female employees
CBS Late Show host David Letterman announced on last night’s show that he has had sexual relationships with female employees and that because of these affairs, he was the target of an extortion attempt. Letterman said he worked with the Manhattan district attorney’s office concerning the extortion attempt. It all came to a head only yesterday when Letterman issued a fake $2 million check to the individual attempting to extort him and the person was immediately arrested.
The Associated Press is reporting that the person attempting to extort Letterman is Robert J. Halderman, a producer for the CBS television investigative news show 48 Hours. CBS has announced that Halderman has been suspended, pending the criminal case.
As far as sexual affairs go, sleeping around with your own employees is especially creepy. It’s hard to tell just how much Letterman’s position of power played into the minds of his sexual partners. Did any of them feel undue pressure to have sex with him? Did any of them worry about getting fired if they didn’t have sex with Letterman?
How long before this story becomes an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent?
You mean texting while driving used to be legal?
The state of Maryland joined 17 other states today by enacting a ban on texting while driving. It’s classified as a “primary offense” which means that an officer of the law can pull a driver over for suspicion of texting. He or she needs no other reason than to stop you.
It’s punishable by a $500 fine.
How exactly is a cop supposed to tell when someone is texting while driving? Reading a text message while driving is not covered under the law, so simply holding your cell phone or your PDA while driving isn’t enough for a police officer to pull you over. You must be actually typing a message to be breaking the law.
Laws like this amuse me. I wouldn’t think of texting while I was driving because it seems like an obviously retarded thing to do while you are operating a motor vehicle. Isn’t there already a law against driving dangerously and/or recklessly?
It seems to me that should have already covered it.
Robert Kirkman talks about ‘The Walking Dead’ on AMC
Robert Kirkman, creater of The Walking Dead, the Image Comics series about people living through a zombie apocalypse, talks with Rick Marshall from MTV’s Splash Page about The Walking Dead, the AMC television series based on the comic book.
One of the highlights of the interview (at least for me) was finding out that that Kirkman will be an executive producer on the show. That should ensure that the television series doesn’t stray too far from the excellent source material.
As popular as zombies are, why hasn’t there already been a TV series based around them?
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I still hate comment moderation
I blogged once before about how much I hate it when bloggers ask readers to leave a comment and then after the reader takes the time to write a comment, the comment is withheld from being posted until the blogger gets a chance to first “approve” the comment.
It smacks of micromanaging and I hate it.
Early yesterday morning I tried to leave a comment over at Lifehacker. It was concerning a post about using cat litter to de-stink dirty, smelly shoes. Personally I thought it was a stupid piece of advice. If your shoes are smelling badly, I don’t think cat liter will fix the problem. If cat liter was really so magical, why do most cat boxes smell like cat urine and/or cat fices unless you clean them on a very regular basis? Smelly shoes are a sign that your feet have produced a ripe environment for bacteria to flourish.
Cat liter wont fix that problem.
Anyway, I tried to leave a quick comment, but after submitting my comment, I was told that my comment must fist be “approved”. If I had known that beforehand, I wouldn’t have bothered leaving a comment.
And that’s the thing that bothers me the most about blogs that resort to using comment moderation. They tend to keep the fact that someone must fist approve comments before they show up, a secret. The result is that if you read through the comments, you tend to think people are reacting in a way that very well might not be the way most people are reacting.
It’s dishonest.