White, Muslim, and immigrants. Looks like everyone was right and wrong in rushing to conclusions in respect to the race-religion-ethnicity of the Boston bombers. Better luck next time, and there will be a next time, because every kook loner malcontent out there is eagerly studying this latest way to go out in a blaze of notoriety. Why lock down a school or shopping mall when you can lock down a city?
P.S. Did everyone hear the uncle? That guy is a true survivor who learned early on to get in front of the mob with the pointiest pitchfork and brightest torch. Well done, sir!
Friday, April 19, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Chris' News In Reviews
Lot been happening in the world. Been having a slight illness problem, but I still follow current events.
On gun control: If there is nothing wrong with a background check to purchase a firearm, I don't see any problem with showing an I.D. to vote. Come on Republicans, make a link and hold the other side to it. Grow a spine already.
On the death of Baroness Thatcher and the subsequent jubilation: I remember a time when the term "English disease" meant an economic state where everyone was constantly on strike and made shoddy products on the three days they bothered to show up. (Much feared in the newly industrial parts of the world and studied intensively.) Now, as much as I admire Sir Clive and his wonderful products, it tells how low you've sunk when Margaret Thatcher gives away Spectrums as the best example of what British industry is capable of four years after becoming PM.
She also won her war. It's a lesson for those of us on the other side of the pond, especially modern Republicans who get possessed by the spectre of Woodrow Wilson and decide that they need to remake the enemy in thy own image rather than stomp the crap out of them and go home.
Her death brought out the worst of progressive misbehavior. I can't help but feel they have a real problem with women. Here you have a child of the middle class who was trained as a chemist, and they can't stand her. Weird. Anyway, she showed them that they were wrong, and they will never forgive her for it.
On King Kim of Korea: No one seems to know what he's doing. He may not either. Near as I can tell he's just trying to show everyone who's boss. The trouble is that none of these junior dictators have the sense of timing their fathers had.
If I were advising Kim, I'd tell him to get into offshore banking. Imagine the Cayman Islands with an A-bomb. I'd bet no one would bully them into giving up their account information. May be tricky explaining that banking isn't the same thing as counterfeiting though. Still, one they got it I'd bet your money would be far safer than in any free world bank.
On gun control: If there is nothing wrong with a background check to purchase a firearm, I don't see any problem with showing an I.D. to vote. Come on Republicans, make a link and hold the other side to it. Grow a spine already.
On the death of Baroness Thatcher and the subsequent jubilation: I remember a time when the term "English disease" meant an economic state where everyone was constantly on strike and made shoddy products on the three days they bothered to show up. (Much feared in the newly industrial parts of the world and studied intensively.) Now, as much as I admire Sir Clive and his wonderful products, it tells how low you've sunk when Margaret Thatcher gives away Spectrums as the best example of what British industry is capable of four years after becoming PM.
She also won her war. It's a lesson for those of us on the other side of the pond, especially modern Republicans who get possessed by the spectre of Woodrow Wilson and decide that they need to remake the enemy in thy own image rather than stomp the crap out of them and go home.
Her death brought out the worst of progressive misbehavior. I can't help but feel they have a real problem with women. Here you have a child of the middle class who was trained as a chemist, and they can't stand her. Weird. Anyway, she showed them that they were wrong, and they will never forgive her for it.
On King Kim of Korea: No one seems to know what he's doing. He may not either. Near as I can tell he's just trying to show everyone who's boss. The trouble is that none of these junior dictators have the sense of timing their fathers had.
If I were advising Kim, I'd tell him to get into offshore banking. Imagine the Cayman Islands with an A-bomb. I'd bet no one would bully them into giving up their account information. May be tricky explaining that banking isn't the same thing as counterfeiting though. Still, one they got it I'd bet your money would be far safer than in any free world bank.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
It's Hard To Be Robin Hood...
...when you look like Friar Tuck and dress like Will Scarlet.
So Hugo Chavez has passed away. I confess to knowing very little about Latin American government, but you couldn't help but hear about the Bolivarian Revolution on a pretty constant basis the last few years if you followed politics at all.
My opinion: slight dislike. I don't like the hypocrisy of those who lead coups but then complain when they get set aside (however briefly) by one. I don't like the "Blame the U.S." approach to domestic and foreign policy and the shoe thumping theatrics that goes along with it, and I especially dislike the charity approach to helping the poor.
"What's that?" you say. "How can you oppose a president using his country's fabulous oil wealth to help the poor and needy?"
A: Because it's run like a charity. You know, the ones that spend .016% of their budget actually helping the subject of the charity and the rest paying themselves handsomely and raising more funds. Chavez knew how the scam worked, and played it to the max. Of course, like most scams, the people you want to fool have done most of the work for you already. Here it is: Chavez and his Bolivarian Revolution liked to make a big deal out of helping the poor around the world (but especially in places where there was a lot of press coverage) by helping them out with things like free heating oil. So far so good, right? The catch is that Venezuela was a founding member of OPEC; they are the ones making sure the heating oil is too expensive for the poor to buy in the first place! Chavez could have helped billions of poor people around the world by breaking the OPEC cartel and allowing oil prices to drop, but didn't. No matter though, he's a swell guy anyway. Joe Kennedy says so.
So Hugo Chavez has passed away. I confess to knowing very little about Latin American government, but you couldn't help but hear about the Bolivarian Revolution on a pretty constant basis the last few years if you followed politics at all.
My opinion: slight dislike. I don't like the hypocrisy of those who lead coups but then complain when they get set aside (however briefly) by one. I don't like the "Blame the U.S." approach to domestic and foreign policy and the shoe thumping theatrics that goes along with it, and I especially dislike the charity approach to helping the poor.
"What's that?" you say. "How can you oppose a president using his country's fabulous oil wealth to help the poor and needy?"
A: Because it's run like a charity. You know, the ones that spend .016% of their budget actually helping the subject of the charity and the rest paying themselves handsomely and raising more funds. Chavez knew how the scam worked, and played it to the max. Of course, like most scams, the people you want to fool have done most of the work for you already. Here it is: Chavez and his Bolivarian Revolution liked to make a big deal out of helping the poor around the world (but especially in places where there was a lot of press coverage) by helping them out with things like free heating oil. So far so good, right? The catch is that Venezuela was a founding member of OPEC; they are the ones making sure the heating oil is too expensive for the poor to buy in the first place! Chavez could have helped billions of poor people around the world by breaking the OPEC cartel and allowing oil prices to drop, but didn't. No matter though, he's a swell guy anyway. Joe Kennedy says so.
The People's Hero Is Dead. Sing along-If you know what's good for ya.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Sci-Fi Comes To Life
I think we all got lucky that something like this didn't happen during the Cold War.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Hello...?
That was one heck of a holiday season. Sales were actually flat or slightly less than last year, but they showed an increase because of the rising price of basic foodstuffs and the continued high cost of petroleum. The company did turn a profit however, by using the standard practice of cutting hours. (If anyone talks about how the American worker is getting more productive, I think they are missing some basic points.)
To me it's getting to the point of being counterproductive. For example, we had a small increase in hours the days before Black Friday, but they were slashed the next day for Cyber Saturday. There is really no innovation anymore; the response to on-line shopping is not to meet it head on, but to give up and cut hours to save money. It's getting to the point of being ridiculous. I've written about the troubles we've had with out sewer system, and they came back this winter. The basic problem stems from the fact that the sewer line runs next to the loading area. Decades of rumbling trucks have caused a slump in the sewer line. Normally there's not too much trouble, but cold weather combined with... it's better explained with song:
...can cause material to settle and solidify in the slump. We will defend our old style toilets to our last breath, because they use enough water to push everything out of the slump and on down the line.
Anyway, the toilets began to flush slowly, then not at all. the plumbers came out and did what they could, but all left without truly fixing anything, because the toilets would back up again the next day. The last time I was in the restroom with a plumber, he flushed the toilet to see what would happen. Of course the water level in the bowl started to rise... and then stopped inches from the rim. hmm, so I pulls off the tank lid and see that the float has been adjusted so that the tank fills at most halfway, if that.
Here's what happened, although I have no proof. Some idiot says "If we use half the water we normally use every day in our stores, we can save x amount of dollars on the water bill every month. If we multiply that by y number stores and multiply that by 12 months a year, we save a number that makes me look innovative." Even bigger boss says "Make it one-third. Send out the word to the DMs."
I'm also starting to run in to Obamacare. You know that stuff about companies cutting back full time staff in order to escape health insurance costs? Yeah. It's starting to hit hard. Try telling a new employee that they can only get fifteen hours a week, they can work another job but have to be available when we need them and the schedule comes out the evening before the new work week begins. And you have to have a car. They look at you like "I can't afford to fuel a car on fifteen hours a week, much less buy one." That's when I push the employment packet across the desk and point out the insurance plan: How to Apply for Government Cheese. Because Your Company Cares. No lie. Got a hotline and everything.
To me it's getting to the point of being counterproductive. For example, we had a small increase in hours the days before Black Friday, but they were slashed the next day for Cyber Saturday. There is really no innovation anymore; the response to on-line shopping is not to meet it head on, but to give up and cut hours to save money. It's getting to the point of being ridiculous. I've written about the troubles we've had with out sewer system, and they came back this winter. The basic problem stems from the fact that the sewer line runs next to the loading area. Decades of rumbling trucks have caused a slump in the sewer line. Normally there's not too much trouble, but cold weather combined with... it's better explained with song:
That's about the right size.
...can cause material to settle and solidify in the slump. We will defend our old style toilets to our last breath, because they use enough water to push everything out of the slump and on down the line.
Anyway, the toilets began to flush slowly, then not at all. the plumbers came out and did what they could, but all left without truly fixing anything, because the toilets would back up again the next day. The last time I was in the restroom with a plumber, he flushed the toilet to see what would happen. Of course the water level in the bowl started to rise... and then stopped inches from the rim. hmm, so I pulls off the tank lid and see that the float has been adjusted so that the tank fills at most halfway, if that.
Here's what happened, although I have no proof. Some idiot says "If we use half the water we normally use every day in our stores, we can save x amount of dollars on the water bill every month. If we multiply that by y number stores and multiply that by 12 months a year, we save a number that makes me look innovative." Even bigger boss says "Make it one-third. Send out the word to the DMs."
I'm also starting to run in to Obamacare. You know that stuff about companies cutting back full time staff in order to escape health insurance costs? Yeah. It's starting to hit hard. Try telling a new employee that they can only get fifteen hours a week, they can work another job but have to be available when we need them and the schedule comes out the evening before the new work week begins. And you have to have a car. They look at you like "I can't afford to fuel a car on fifteen hours a week, much less buy one." That's when I push the employment packet across the desk and point out the insurance plan: How to Apply for Government Cheese. Because Your Company Cares. No lie. Got a hotline and everything.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Yes Virginia, You Can Run A Country On Unicorn Farts.
For an election that didn't change the presidency, the House or the Senate, this was probably one of the most historic elections of all time. Ideology has now triumphed over reality. We are now a corrupt banana republic continent sized Greece, and no one cares. The people have spoken, and this is what they want, as long as someone else pays for it. If I were the Republicans, I would think for a while about making a hard step to the left, and giving America what it wants in spades, then forming a new party to clean up the mess.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Music for Halloween
Yeah, it's a day late but I felt I had to do something.
From Shawnee, Oklahoma. One of the many places across America the Oil Company accidently drilled a hole to Hell.
Halloween really snuck up on me this year. I had plenty of warning of course; I've been looking at Halloween merchandise since August, but things just haven't looked Halloweeny. The radio stations kept to their usual playlists, and I really didn't see that much on TV. (Don't watch much at all though.) The trick-or-treaters were out in force and the local zombie walk looks like it is on it's way to being a tradition. Still, there were fewer lights on, everyone was home at seven, and the local preacher didn't bother to publish his "Halloween is Satanism" (using the World Book Encyclopedia as primary reference) letter in the paper, and no one decorated.
Don't know what it is, or if it's part of a trend. I'm sure the economy, uncertainty about the future, and Sandy all played a part. On the other hand, what was once exclusive is now everyday. In entertainment, we are pretty much flooded with vampire and zombie TV shows and movies. Erotic vampire romance has taken the place of Nick Carter and Mack Bolan on the supermarket book shelf. There are also ordinary people. Pinhead used to be kind of scary, Now, well, I'm sure someone is working their way up to it as an expression of individuality. Basically, if Americans are walking around looking like extras from "Apocalyptico" everyday, you really can't dress up any more than that.
From Shawnee, Oklahoma. One of the many places across America the Oil Company accidently drilled a hole to Hell.
Halloween really snuck up on me this year. I had plenty of warning of course; I've been looking at Halloween merchandise since August, but things just haven't looked Halloweeny. The radio stations kept to their usual playlists, and I really didn't see that much on TV. (Don't watch much at all though.) The trick-or-treaters were out in force and the local zombie walk looks like it is on it's way to being a tradition. Still, there were fewer lights on, everyone was home at seven, and the local preacher didn't bother to publish his "Halloween is Satanism" (using the World Book Encyclopedia as primary reference) letter in the paper, and no one decorated.
Don't know what it is, or if it's part of a trend. I'm sure the economy, uncertainty about the future, and Sandy all played a part. On the other hand, what was once exclusive is now everyday. In entertainment, we are pretty much flooded with vampire and zombie TV shows and movies. Erotic vampire romance has taken the place of Nick Carter and Mack Bolan on the supermarket book shelf. There are also ordinary people. Pinhead used to be kind of scary, Now, well, I'm sure someone is working their way up to it as an expression of individuality. Basically, if Americans are walking around looking like extras from "Apocalyptico" everyday, you really can't dress up any more than that.
People of Wal-Mart
Disclaimer: I don't care if you are into body modification, tribalism or whatever they call it these days. It's your business. Just don't ask me for a job or to pay your unemployment when you can't get one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)