How to end poverty

The CEO of Goldman Sachs just got a $53.4 million bonus, on top of his $600,000 annual salary.
Was he having trouble living on the 600K?

That $53.4 million would have been better spent on fighting poverty and AIDS with the ONE campaign.

Or how about this...my father builds houses. He says he can build a 2-story, 3-4 bedroom home with a full-size basement for around $100,000. Think of how many families could be housed in the homes made possible by $53.4 million.

Big business - still doing whatever the hell they want and getting away with it

I came across this shocking tidbit of info on trademark infringement on Chilling Effects.

There is another type of infringement, too, called trademark dilution. Under this doctrine, the owner of a famous mark is entitled to stop you from commercial use of a mark or trade name, if that use begins after the famous mark has become famous and harms its distinctive quality. Walt Disney has used this concept to stop pornographers from using Snow White or Sleeping Beauty in their films. Fan fiction authors who distribute their work commercially may be accused of trademark dilution in addition to other intellectual property violations.

Uh, wait a minute. A large corporation can just up and trademark something in public domain under the guise that they are the one that made it famous? Riiiiight.

Product placement - at home? wtf?

Possibly the dumbest celebrity quote ever. I mean, is she on AMEX payroll or something?

"I don't leave home without him. Just like a new American Express card."
- Mariska Hargitay, on her son, August.

Bush not losing any sleep

People asked Bush if he takes sleep aids. He says no.

“I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume,” he said.

Well, that's refreshing to know that he isn't losing any sleep over the state of the current US economy, the lives being lost in Iraq, etc.

He also thinks Mary Cheney will be a loving sould to her child. wtf?

Not to be outdone by her crackhead husband, Laura thinks single women can't have big fancy-pants jobs. Insanity!

more insanity here!

Schadenfreude

1. Judith Regan, who must have some sort of chemical imbalance for publishing that hideous OJ Simpson book, was just fired from her cushy job.
2. My department has over $800,000 to capitalize by March 31, 2007 and one of my co-workers quit today, Travis the Hobbit left earlier for a job interview (his 3rd in the past 2 weeks) and I plan on fleeing mid-January. muah haha
3. Nissan had a special employee car salon a couple of weeks ago and unveiled their newest model to some of us, the Nissan Rogue, which is a hideous looking beast of a vehicle. It's a cross between the Murano and the Versa - but all the ugly parts of those cars. The Nissan Rogue didn't just get hit by the ugly truck, it IS the ugly truck!

Jersey beat NYC in doing this? say it's not so!

Kudos to New Jersey governor John Corzine for his willingness to sign into law a civil unions bill passed last week by New Jersey's state legislature.

This makes New Jersey the third state, after Vermont and Connecticut, to offer civil unions, which extend to gay men and lesbians all the rights state law affords married people. Unfortunately, the bill does not recognize gay marriage.

Jersey - maybe it's not so bad after all!

Massachusetts gov. does not heart immigrants, well at least the illegal one

This is rich.

The skeevy prez-wannabe governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, signed an agreement (probably in blood) with the feds to allow state police to question and detain suspected illegal immigrants. I'll take racial profiling for $100.

Story here.

Essentially, it's nutritional pornography. It's so bad for you it's shocking

Americans are suckers for themes. From themeparks to different themed rooms in houses to themed restaurants.





This Heart Attack Grill in Arizona is actually kind of funny. I mean, look at the faces of these guys, they look like they're having a good time. Could be due to the 'naughty nurses' serving up their greasy burgers.

Christmas comes early!

December 17th as a matter of fact.

Rumsfeld's last day as Secretary of Defense. Hooray!

Is this a joke?

WASHINGTON - Faced with a decline in the number of overseas visitors and unpopular entry requirements, the U.S. government is turning to the Walt Disney Co. and other theme park operators to brighten the country’s battered image.

With security much tightened since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the visa and entry processes are so unpopular that the country was ranked as the world’s most unfriendly to visitors in a survey last month of travelers from 16 nations.

Rest of story here.

Say it's not so!

A crackdown on prostitution windows in Amsterdam!
story here

Democrat candidate #1

Tom Vilsack becomes the first Democrat to officially declare his presidential candidacy today.

Story here.

To this I say, Tom who?

File under: election 2008, Tom Vilsack

Jack Black & Adam Sandler - hotties?

I like Jack Black. He's a funny guy.

It's seems lately I haven't been able to escape advertisements for his new movie The Holiday, also starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jude Law. Just when I had finally thought I'd escaped....I wind up watching a talkshow that Jude Law is on promoting the film. Argh.

Like I said, I like Jack Black. But when would a babe like Kate Winselt ever end up with a sloppy bastard like Jack Black? This is one of the things I hate most about big Hollywood movies. Again I ask when would someone like Jack Black get a Kate Winslet? Only in the same alternate universe where Adam Sandler gets Kate Beckinsale (as in Click).

File under: crappy Hollywood movies, Jack Black, Kate Winslet, The Holiday movie

Thank you Captain Obvious

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has pulled the plug on the upcoming Regan Books title from O.J. Simpson, If I Did It. A tell-all of a different variety, the book, which was to be Simpson's outline of how he might have committed the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, was scheduled for release on November 30 and was to be accompanied by a two-part TV interview to air on Fox on November 27 and 29.
After the book was condemned by booksellers (many of whom said they would donate proceeds to the victims' families), media critics and even pundits from Fox News, News Corp. announced in a terse statement that the book and TV special have been dropped. Murdoch said: “I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project. We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.”

Wow. Did they really not know this was a bad idea to begin with? Rupert Murdoch hasn't made all that money by being an idiot.


File under: OJ Simpson

George Bush doesn't read the Guardian. Often. Probably never.

Can he even read at all?

Story here.



File under: George Bush-can he read?

America - land of the prudes, where flight attendants are scared of boobies

In the movie Eurotrip when one of the characters exclaims that America was founded by prudes, he wasn't just whistling dixie...a woman in Vermont was actually kicked off a plane for breast-feeding her baby. She was seated by the window in the second to last row and her husband was on the other side of her. Full story on MSN.

As I was reading the article I kept waiting to get to the part that explained to me why she was really kicked off the plane. I mean, surely she did something - went to the bathroom with a boob out for all to see, gave her husband a taste...something like that...but no. All she was doing was feeding the baby discreetly, but apparently that was enough to get the flight attendant all up in a tizzy. What's the big deal and why did a glimpse of a boobie bother the flight attendant so much?

File under: boobie fiasco

What happened to the progress? Gays & lesbians lose again.

I'm a bit more than disturbed to see that the UK is deporting a Ugandan woman, who faces persecution in her home country merely because of her sexual orientation. The UK was making strides in equality for gays and lesbians, yet now they are knowingly going to send this woman back to endure only god knows what because she is gay?!?

The article mentions that she will get sent back if the judge rules that it is safe for her to return to her country of origin. Surely they will not send her to a place where the country's President actually called for the arrest of all homosexuals and then modified it to wishing to go to a time when gays and lesbians were either"ignored or speared by their parents." SPEARED?!? This seems to me like the epitome of unsafe.

I cannot wait until the day I am afforded the same rights as my heterosexual counterparts.

File under: gay rights equality

President Obama? Will the U.S. elect a black man to the presidency?

It's impossible to deny the popularity of senator Barack Obama. He's been on a whirlwind book tour with his The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. A recent appearance at a book festival in Austin, Texas saw him selling a whopping 1,000 copies of said book, breaking a previous record set by President Bill Clinton. There has been a lot of talk about the possibility of Obama becoming a U.S. president, possibly the next president, with Obama himself saying he would consider a 2008 campaign.

In an article in the Washington Post, there is some speculation on whether or not he could make it in a presidential race. While I think the man should strike while he is clearly hot, I also do not think that this country would elect a black man to the presidency, and that is sad. Harold Ford Jr. couldn't even pull off a senate seat in the recent election in Tennessee, which would have made him the first black senator since the Reconstruction.

While I do not think Obama could successfully reclaim the presidency for the Democrats, I do think he would be the best candidate for vice president. I'd love to see a Clinton-Obama ticket on my ballot in 2008. And yes, I think the U.S. would elect a white woman president before a black man.

File under: Barack Obama election 2008 politics Hillary Clinton Tennessee sucks

Does the average TV viewing American get Ugly Betty?

One of my favorite new shows of the season is Ugly Betty, which of course usually means the seal of doom for a show. Last season my favorite new show was Out of Practice. Right when it started gaining word of mouth viewers and winning its timeslot, CBS pulled it for a try at that new Jenna Elfman show. It did poorly, so Out of Practice was back...until they put The New Adventures of Old Christine on. A glance at the CBS lineup will show which show survived. I still swear that people were tuning in for Out of Practice and that is how The New Adventures of Old Christine got better ratings. Notwithstanding the fact that Out of Practice was a far superior show. I think maybe the humor was a bit too intelligent for the average beer-chugging, Cheetos-munching, Nascar-lovin' American television viewer. Of course, CBS also stupidly put it on after Two & a Half Men - hello idiots at CBS, different target audiences!

Another of my favorite shows last season, Sons & Daughters, was promptly cancelled. Teachers - cancelled! And the most devastating cancellation of a show occurred prior to last season with Wonderfalls. Damn those wankers at FOX. (Thankfully it came out on DVD - but Sons & Daughters will not due to expensive music licensing issues.)

But, back to Ugly Betty. Having watched some telenovelas on Telemundo (hooray Gitanas!), I find Ugly Betty's attempts to mock telenovelas rather hysterical. It's comedy at its best. And I doubted the average American's ability to see the humor in this show. I love it + I don't think most Americans will get it = it's doomed.

Imagine my surprise to read this article crowning Ugly Betty homecoming queen. Apparently Ugly Betty is the most watched new series on U.S. television this season. I still have to wonder if most people actually get it...and is it a coincidence that this article came out after Salma Hayek and her ta-ta's made their shirtless appearance on the show?

File under: Ugly Betty tv shows

This is rich

My girlfriend works at a company that bills Medicare for nursing homes, I don't know how she has put up with this job for almost 2 years...she just sent me this nugget describing her morning....

I am oh so tired of these people, of this job, of people’s stupidity and their need to bully someone to feel better about their pathetic lives and small pebble brains. I am oh so tired of their stupid phone calls. Example: (and this is a real call that just happened. These are quotes. I’m not paraphrasing.)

I got your papers you faxed yesterday saying that you haven’t received these confirmations.
Mm hm.
Well I’ve got news for you. I faxed them back on the first.
Okay.
You didn’t get them?
No. (‘obviously’ is the parenthetical here)
Well, I’ve got the transmission result right here saying that it went through. Is your fax number 771-0062?
That’s one of them.
Well that’s what I faxed it to and it went through. It took 44 seconds to transmit.
Okay.
What’s going on over there?
I don’t know.
Someone’s buzzing me. Well, I’m going to fax them again, but it has to be on your end.
Okay.

Mexico - surging ahead of the U.S. in equality

I was not even aware that civil unions were up for discussion in Mexico, until I read this article stating how an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in Mexico City voted to legalize civil unions.

Mexico City's assembly on Thursday voted for the first time in the country's history to legally recognize gay civil unions, a measure that will provide same-sex couples with benefits similar to those of married couples. The mayor was expected to sign the measure into law. Mexico City is a federal district with its own legislature, and the law will apply only to residents of the capital, with a population of 8.7 million. This is the first time any state legislature has approved such a law anywhere in Mexico.

Mexico!?! Mexico is progressing at a faster rate than the U.S.!?! That is amazing - now when is the U.S. going to catch up with the rest of the world? If the huge Catholic population in Mexico can legalize civil unions, then surely the bible thumpers here can do the same.

File under: gay marriage Mexico

the hobbit is a republican

Travis the Hobbit asked me a "trivia" question of which Ronald Reagan was the answer. I replied, "That's unfortunate."

Travis the Hobbit says I am the only person he's ever met that did not like Reagan. I told him not to worry, for we are among him.

Travis the Hobbit is a genius. He noted that we probably did not vote the same yesterday.

File under: travis the hobbit

Tennessee - where homophobia is thriving

According to an article in the Nashville Tennessean, an Associated Press exit poll showed that the marriage amendment had the strongest support among married women with children, small-town residents, weekly churchgoers and conservatives.

I feel so sorry for those children of those 'married women with children' as statistically a crop of them are going to be gay.

The same article also quotes the following sage:
Paula Donald, 41, said she voted Tuesday because she is against same-sex relationships.
"A lot of people don't realize that's damnation to their soul," said Donald, who voted in Lebanon.

Let's just for argument's sake say that this sage is correct...why does she care about the damnation of other people's souls? If people stopped getting up in other people's business things would be a lot better all around.

Other states with voters suffering from the Gladys Kravits syndrome...Idaho, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. Colorado, South Dakota and Arizona were too close to call.

and now...off to find my girlfriend and see what we can do about destroying the sanctity of marriage...

file under: gay marriage backwards thinking Tennessee

a mouthy hobbit sits beside me at work

I enjoy the slacker pasttime of getting paid to do nothing. What's even better is getting paid to play online or do my homework for my MBA classes.

Travis the Hobbit likes to interrupt me while I am trying to partake in these activities. He sits in the cubicle beside me. He likes to talk. A lot. About nothing. Even when no one is listening. He also likes to repeat the same stories every day.

Travis the Hobbit enjoys bacon from the cafeteria downstairs for breakfast. He likes to show up for work late and scour the office for free food.

Travis the Hobbit likes to sneak up behind me when I am deeply focused on a particularly enticing bit of g/g slash fan fiction. Travis the Hobbit moves with the stealth of a ninja at these moments.

Travis the Hobbit tells me daily about the 5 mile run he does with his 'group' (AA? Dungeons & Dragons? who knows?) every Saturday. Travis the Hobbit has a pot belly. He also tells me he has bad knees. And a step-dog.

Travis the Hobbit hates this job as much as I do. He tells me about it every day. Several times.

file under: office annoyances Travis the Hobbit

more on Faith Hill

"The idea that I would act disrespectful towards a fellow musician is unimaginable to me," Hill said in a statement. "For this to become a focus of attention given the talent gathered is utterly ridiculous. Carrie is a talented and deserving Female Vocalist of The Year."

So, let's be naïve for a moment and say Faith Hill was just joking around, as was mentioned in a previous statement by her peeps. The second statement released by her posse what an actual statement from her, as posted above, where she mentions that the focus should not be on her but on the talent, blah, blah.... Yet, by doing a goofy dance and joking upset tantrum, doesn't that put the focus on her and not on the talent? So, either way, she seems to get what she wants - focus on her. If she was joking - it puts the focus on her. If she was mad - the focus is on her. Can't she just say "I'm needy and need the focus to be on me" and let it be?

File under: Faith Hill

Faith Hill: spoiled & angry

Faith Hill, caught with the proverbial foot-in-mouth, stated that she was joking around and that she is not upset about Carrie Underwood's win at the CMA's. A choir of do-gooders (aka those with a financial stake in Faith's career) have testified to the character of Faith and how she would never be mean like that. Having met Faith Hill and attended industry functions honoring her and her career, I know she's too stupid to have realized the camera was on her when she threw her hissy fit.

People backstage at the CMA's seem to be echoing my thoughts. Word around Nashville is that nice, sweet lil' ole Faith was a bit, shall we say 'pissy ' about not getting a standing ovation when Martina McBride did. Yet, her spirit wasn't dampened due to the thoughts of taking home that trophy. So, when she didn't win, the pissy went mega-pissy. The end.

Local news in Nashville featured interviews with fans around town and their thoughts on Faith's playful upset/angry roar. One woman stated that she knew Faith wasn't being mean because she is "a real classy lady." Well, clearly this woman wasn't paying attention back when Faith first got with Tim McGraw...she was engaged at the time to her producer, Scott Hendricks. She cheated on him with Tim, and then promptly dumped him. If that's not class, then I don't know what is.

File under: Faith Hill

Online MBA vs traditional MBA, round 3

According to an article on MSN from Business Week on the best business schools in US ranks the University of Chicago School of Business as #1. Interestingly enough, the bulk of classes offered by Cardean University/ Ellis College of NYIT for their online MBA program were developed and done in conjunction with the University of Chicago School of Business. #10, Columbia University, is also where some of the Cardean/Ellis classes come from.

File under: online MBA programs

Oil companies to consumers: "Thanks for taking it up the arse"

Nothing makes me happier than knowing that my $3 a gallon for gas was helping Exxon Mobil to reach record-breaking profits . Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And then to read that they are expected to exceed it next quarter. It makes me weep.

File under: Exxon Mobil makes you its bitch

Help captive by our own country - the US-Mexico border fence quandry

I'm not sure what is more troubling in this Washington Post article regarding the new border fence between the US and Mexico.... are they trying to keep people out or keep us in? Cause I tell ya - being fenced in here is terrifying.

And a $1.2 billion downpayment....downpayment...implying that the cost is actually more! Insanity. This government knows how to waste money like nobody else.

I agree with Mexican President Vicente Fox, how incredibly shameful this is...

File under: trapped in the US - a new horror film

people are so weird...

overheard:

person 1: what did you have for dinner last night?

person 2: tofu organic lasagna... and then i was still hungry and we had some reese's puffs cereal so i ate that

why would one bother with the organic tofu lasagna only to follow it up with reese's puffs cereal? just a thought

file under: weird thought process?

Most expensive addictions? or not...

According to an article on MSN, courtesy of Forbes, the top 5 most expensive additions are:

1. Alcohol
2. Smoking
3. Drugs
4. Overeating
5. Gambling

In reading this article and looking at their list, I notice a glaring oversight. Sex. Surely sex, including pornography, is one of the top 5 most expensive addictions. The article says that there is not enough statisitical evidence to know for sure - and I assume this is because prositution is illegel so they can't possibly know its effect on the economy. Yet, drugs were illegal the last time I checked and they seem to have enough statistical evidence for that one. Getting an idea of the economics of sex addiction would be fairly simple - the information regarding the amount spent in the porn industry each year is easily accessible and a fine starting point. I suspect the truth of the matter is that no one wants to print that America is full of sex addicts. Apparently it looks better to say we are full of drunks, smokers, drug abusers, gluttons and gamblers.

File under: what about sex?

Will my popcorn be cheaper?

Apparently, charging famine prices for popcorn at movie theaters just does not bring in enough money these days.

A recent article says that advertisements will soon start appearing on popcorn bags at movie theaters, which leaves me wondering....will my popcorn be cheaper?

File under: fatty foods, famine prices & advertisements

Note to music & movie industries: stop releasing rubbish and we will start buying again

According to the Washington Post, music companies are still suing people for downloading crappy music. It's funny that both the music and film industry believe that illegal filesharing & downloading are what's to blame for poor sales in each industry. If only they would realize that they have been consistenly putting out crap for the last few years, which is the real problem.

Here's an idea - why don't they offer "official" file sharing sites that offer the media in a low-quality format. They can say if you get your product anywhere else then you can be sued, but not if you get it from this official site. Then have an official pay site where you can pay for high quality products. Now, get this - if people get the freebies and decide that the media is not crap, then I suspect they will pay for a quality item - be it from a retail outlet or an online pay site. But of course, they would never do this because they don't want tangible proof that what they are releasing is crap and that they are to blame for falling profits.

In the meantime, they are still fucking themselves. For instance, here is what I do....I purchase cds used online from half.com or Amazon, rip the tracks, then resell. Guess what - the music industry is not getting any of that money from me. Now, where there is a band that I really like, for instance The Corrs, then I will go to Best Buy or another outlet and purchase a real copy, this being the only time the industry gets my money. As for movies, I hit up the rental stores when they are having those lovely 4 for $20 sales on previously viewed items. Sometimes I keep the movies, sometimes I re-sell them online. Again - movie industry not getting my money...except when I buy a film that I actually think is quality, such as District B-13 or V for Vendetta.

When movies & music get better, I'll start buying more. Until then, the music & movie industry can weep for the loss of my money.

File under: the MPAA and RIAA are idiots

Office shenanigans

I hate nosy people that make up an excuse to come to your desk to ask you an unnecessary question while making eye contact with your computer screen, because they in fact did not have a question, but just wanted to see what you were doing.

I'd rather them ask me and let me tell them that I am looking at the PostSecret website, as it would waste less of my time and be a tad bit less annoying.

file under: office annoyances

Questions & answers for online degree skeptics

Considering getting an online degree? This article on AOL.com answers some common questions on doing just that.

file under: online degree programs

Prestigious university optional

Warren Buffett doesn't care where you went to school. Other CEOs concur.

Story here on MSN, courtesy of CareerJournal.com.


file under: school reputation not necessary

Note to experts in various fields: Please use credible sources, as there will always be someone that knows where you swiped your information from

In the book publishing community, specifically the self-publishing sector, Dan Poynter is considered a bit of an expert as the author of The Self-Publishing Manual. I take issue with the fact of him using biased resources for his information. In his free "Publishing Poynters Newsletter" from October 15, 2006 he list the following under ParaResources:

15. TOP 25 RADIO TALK SHOW HOSTS.
1. Rush Limbaugh
2. Bill O'Reilly
3. Don Imus
4. Michael Savage
5. Sean Hannity
6. Laura Ingraham
7. Glenn Beck
8. Dr. Laura Schlessinger
9. Neal Boortz
10. Al Franken
11. Mike Gallagher
12. Mancow
13. Howard Stern
14. Bill Bennett
15. Opie and Anthony
16. Ed Schultz
17. Michael Medved
18. Randi Rhodes
19. Jim Bohannon
20. G. Gordon Liddy
21. Diane Rehm
22. Larry Elder
23. Michael Reagan
24. Tammy Bruce
25. Tom Leykis

What he doesn't do is footnote where he got this list of the "top 25 radio talk show hosts." I saw this list printed in the conservative, Republican-leaning "magazine" by the name of "NewsMax." I hardly think they are an authority to be quoted. It's possible that they got the information elsewhere, but I do not remember reading that the rankings came from an independent, unbiased source. At least he didn't charge anyone for this tripe.

file under: credibility - an endangered species

NYC doesn't heart fatties

From the Washington Post...

NYC to Restaurants: Get an Oil Change

In what could be a bellwether move, New York City's Board of Health yesterday took the first step in requiring restaurants to sharply limit the amount of trans fat in their foods.

Trans fat--a.k.a. partially hydrogenated vegetable oils--has been found to significantly increase the risk of heart disease. Public health advocates have likened it to bacon grease in your kitchen sink and lead in paint.

Americans eat, on average, six grams of trans fat a day. A single fast-food meal can contain as much as 10 grams--far higher than the American Heart Association recommended limit of about 2 grams per day

Under the suggested rule, NYC restaurants would have six months to switch cooking oils and shortenings and 18 months to limit trans fat to less than half a gram in the rest of their menu. Pre-packaged food in the original packaging would be exempt.

NYC wants to make mandatory a policy that city health officials have been asking restaurants to adopt voluntarily for the past year. Chains such as Wendy's have stopped using trans fat. Kraft Foods now sells trans fat-free Oreos. But NYC officials say most restaurants have ignored their pleas.

The Board of Health is also considering a requirement that restaurants list the calories in its food on menus and menu boards. The proposed rule would apply only to establishments that already publicly offer calorie information. In practice that means many of the large chains, including McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Online MBA vs. traditional school MBA, round 2

Okay, okay, I admit it…I too was a traditional school snob. So, I took my time gathering information on various online schools. I looked for reviews from others, I looked for news articles, I googled the names of the schools plus words like "scam" and "not accredited" to see if I got anything. Much to my dismay, I got no hits on those searches. I did learn about how some people were unhappy with University of Phoenix classes, as apparently, according to something I found on a message board, the postings for the class are not in real-time. I am assuming this means that messages are delayed in showing up when posted to the class, but I do not know for certain.

In deciding that I was finally fed up with the "education" I was receiving at my traditional school, I had to figure out what I wanted from an online program. I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to actually get what I was paying for; meaning I wanted to receive a quality education for my money. Yet, I did not want to spend $2000 per class. I wanted to finish as soon as possible, as I had been taking 2 classes at a time at my university and after 1.5 years was tired of making no progress. I didn't want to have to pick up any undergrad pre-reqs that I might be missing (I was an English/Journalism major for my undergrad). I wanted to be able to piggyback my classes to finish quickly. And I wanted as many of my already taken classes to transfer as a school would allow. Also, I of course wanted to make sure it would not be a useless degree from a useless hack of a school that would get me laughed out of every job interview.

Some of the online programs that I evaluated:
Regis Univ
DeVry
Univ of Phoenix
Cardean Univ / Ellis College of NYIT
American Intercontinetal
Strayer Univ
Capella Univ
Colorado State Distance MBA program
Georgia WebMBA

More info on online MBA programs here:
Distance MBA profiles on BusinessWeek.com website.

file under: online MBA programs

Bush = Hitler, it's not just a coincidence

Pentagon: Red Cross met Gitmo detainees

How interesting, since Hitler also allowed the Red Cross to meet with some of the Holocaust detainees. And we saw how the Holocaust turned out...

Traditional schools vs. online schools

Round One

I started my MBA at the same school where I received my undergrad, against my better judgement. Truth is, I valued life experiences more than classwork and ended up with an embarrassing undergrad GPA as a result, despite my intelligence, and did not have many options for places to get my MBA.

When I started the MBA program, I fully expected the work to be challenging and possibly even difficult...I was wrong. One of my first MBA classes was an finance class, which was supposedly taught by the best professor in the MBA program. I purposely waited a couple of semesters so I could, indeed, have the best professor. The third class meeting he played us a movie....a MOVIE! I had paid almost $800 for the class, to be taught finance, and was instead shown a movie that I could have rented at Blockbuster for $5 or so. That was when I decided to investigate other programs.

My pathetic undergrad GPA was still a handicap in my quest for a new school, so I did the unthinkable....I looked up online programs. I know, I know, there is such a stigma attached to getting a degree online...much like the stigma attached to getting your GED instead of a "real" high school diploma.

"Sticker price shock" was waiting for me when I began looking at the individual schools. I was paying around $800 per class at my state university and the online programs were asking for around $1800 per class. Outrageous! Then I found an online program affiliated with several Georgia state schools called the Web MBA. It was cheaper than the other online programs and would have the name of a "real" school on it...and best of all, their admissions standards were low enough for my undergrad GPA. Yet, I was worried that a school in Georgia would be no more challenging than a school in Tennessee. So, I decided to keep researching the online options and signed up for another semester at Middle Tennessee State University.

file under: online MBA programs

lubin' it up with the TSA, booyah

okay, so i was reading about how the TSA is allowing some stuff back on planes now and this caught my eye...

Up to 4 oz. of essential non-prescription liquid medications including saline solution, eye care products and KY jelly

er...KY jelly...now i'm assuming they are referring to vaseline here, but putting KY jelly leads me to believe they want peeps to be able to be well-lubed when they scrump on the plane.


edit: further reading of above link shows that vaseline is not allowed, so they do indeed mean to say KY Jelly. freaks!


File under: TSA + KY Jelly = good times

Taking over the world ...one papercut at a time

This caught my eye in reading one of the many articles on the latest 'terrorist' threat....

Kingsley Veal, 35, a geologist from England, said his Continental flight from London's Heathrow airport to San Francisco was "long and boring" because, under British flight restrictions, he couldn't bring any books or music on board.

Books? No books? wtf? Were the supposed terrorists planning to rip out pages of books and threaten people with ghastly papercuts? Ooh, and maybe then they were gonna pour alcohol on them, hence the whole no liquids thing. Yes. That must be it. The terrorist master plan...

Threaten painful papercuts with rubbing alcohol poured over them. oooh (insert scary music here)


...or maybe it's just better to keep people from reading because then they won't be informed....now they'll just be scared...all that time sitting on a plane with nothing to do but think how terrible things are thanks to those blasted papercut-threatening terrorists...


File under: ridiculous airport "safety"

The industry sure does know how to de-sexy someone

Before signed to a major label and looking shag-me-sexy:
http://www.savingjane.com/images/1g.jpg

After signing to a major label, looking glossy and fake and not-so-shag-me-sexy:
http://music.yahoo.com/release/30658157



File under: tragedy, Saving Jane

Restaurants with dirty floors can't be clean!

There are a lot of restaurants around here that have vats of peanuts (in the shell) in the waiting area and on the tables and the custom is to crack open the shell, toss it on the floor and then eat the peanuts, which i find totally repulsive, btw. (who wants to eat at a place with crap all over the floor?!)

I explain this oddity because I'm fairly certain these places only exist in the south and you've prolly never been in one...and I wish I had not. I was thinking about this today because my mother, everytime she is at our place, will comment on something being dirty/dusty/etc. yet she loves to frequent restaurants with peanut debris on the floor. wtf kind of sense does that make? just a thought.

Comedians - delivering news you can trust!

Dennis Miller + Fox News = not exactly a trustworthy news source.

There's just something about getting your news from a comedian...that is...well...less than trustworthy. Give me a notable author or someone similiar and I'm with ya...well not if you're Fox News, but still...

Pics of hot girls together is so effing rad...

prepare to swoon...

http://www.drawingonwalls.com/photos.htm .....

very bottom of page on the left....

from a film that just finished production.


File under: hot girls together is schweet

Oh sweet jesus, a cure for the ignorant!

I was just posting earlier about the smarts those Germans have...first they give a shout out to human rights and now this.

An anti-stupid pill. Oh bless those funny talking German bastards!

How can I get a PR job with the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin? I'd love to have an arsenal of those babies to pass out on the street. Or on the road! Someone trying to get in my lane...while I'm in it....I could pull out a pea shooter and hit 'em with a lil dose of 'no more stupid.' Or for those days I dread...you know the ones....when you have no choice...you have to do it...you have to go to the Wal-Mart. (insert scary music here) That's where all the stupids congregate. I think they meet up there to have little contests...see who can out-stupid who. For Wal-Mart I'd have to grind up my little nuggets of no-more-stupid into a fine powder that I could drop into the sprinkler system and rain down no-more-stupid on all the stupids. Ah, the dream. It's good. It's real damn good.

File under: hope for humanity

Yeh, cause aliens hate drugs

Apparently Penelope Cruz gives a shout-out to Scientology for being anti-drugs...of course Hitler brought Germany out of an economic depression, but that doesn't make everything all butterflies and daisies, now does it?


File under: Scientology -still a cult

Is this a good thing?

If I was a celebrity that got sloshed, pulled over for speeding while sloshed and caught with my verbal pants down cause I was bashing those pesky Jews.....would I really want Patrick Swayze having my back? What next...will Blossom pop up to say she supports Mel also?

Just something to ponder.


File under: Mel Gibson - still a hater from way back

Beaten by the Nazis! d'oh!

So, you know that the US is really dragging it's feet when Germany is ruling that an Iranian lesbian cannot be deported to her homeland because she risks facing punishment there for her sexual orientation.

Um, yeh.

Meanwhile the US is doing everything in its power to ensure that only straight couples like Star Jones and her gay husband can marry.


File under: get me out of America!

Conversion of files xif to pdf

Had to do this for work and thought some of you might need the help too...

On this page, you will find a XIF Viewer from ScanSoft :

      http://support.scansoft.com/downloads/default.asp

Enter Pagis for the program and the correct OS.

Then, on this page, you will find a free PDF printer.

After the installation, open your XIF file, select "Print" and the

"PDF995" printer.

That should do the job.

Mel Gibson - "I didn't mean to say that outloud!"

Apparently when Mel Gibson says "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asks the arresting officer, "Are you a Jew?" what he really means is "I heart Jews, they're swell."

Idiot.

I can't wait to see what the South Park guys do with this ammo.


File under: Mel Gibson - a hater from way back, moron, ignorance, and stupidity

The conversations people have...

Overheard at a restaurant...

Guy 1: Whaddya think about the waitress?

Guy 2: She's okay.

Guy 3: Yeh man.

Guy 2: I'd let her suck my dick.

All: *laugh*

Since when do people "allow" someone to give them oral pleasure, as if it is some sort of privilege for the giver? This jackass should be thankful a woman will talk to him, much less get close enough to give him oral pleasure.


File under: stupid people shouldn't speak...or breed

A tale of two guitar stores (or A Lesson in How to Lose A Loyal Customer)

Guitar Center vs. Sam Ash

For the past couple of years, Guitar Center has been my music store of choice. I made a trip into the Sam Ash at Ontario Mills in Ontario, CA a while back and deemed it too pricey for my tastes. Guitar Center’s prices seemed more reasonable and they are closer to my house. Two electric guitars, an amp, strings, a case and other accessories later I bought a couple of microphones from them. Got them home…they were rather pitiful in quality. I returned decided to them. I get there, and spend 15 minutes waiting to return them, as none of the sales people want to deal with me when they find out I am bringing back defective merchandise, since they are paid commission. I understand that, I have worked in sales before. But I’m sorry, I you are not a good enough sales person to make money and take the hit of a return, then you really shouldn’t be in sales my friend. The guy that sold me the crappy mics is there, sees me, but instead of addressing my issue, he asks me to wait…he’s trying to close a sale with another customer. Finally, he has time for me and my little problems and I begin telling him how I got nothing but static from them and wanted to exchange or return them.

Now, the appropriate action here would have been to apologize, and ask me what he could do for me. But that is not what happened.

For the next 15 minutes, he tested out the 2 microphones. 15 minutes. 15 minutes I had to stand around. ‘check, check 1, check, check, check 1, check 1, 2, check 1, 2” Oy vey. I’d like those 15 minutes of my life back. When he is satisfied that the mics are indeed crap, he walks me back up to the register. I ask what else he has in a similar price range and the lazily points in the direction of the mic case and mumbles an unintelligible product number. I looked at him in disbelief before circling around the case trying to decide which mics he was referring to. Apparently, his legs had stopped working as he didn’t actually remove himself from behind the register to show me the comparable microphones. I think he must have gotten tired of waiting for me though, as he eventually meandered over and pointed out a set of microphones that were $200 more…each. Riiiight. Needless to say, I got my money back and booked it over to Sam Ash. It was now 45 minutes until they closed for the night thanks to my debacle at Guitar Center and I was 15 minutes away. D’oh.

Arrived at Sam Ash at 8:30pm, closing time is 9:00pm. A young guy in the mic section pointed me away from the uber expensive studio mics and to the more reasonably priced ones. Then, much to my surprise, he plugged in the mics for me to test out. I told him about the fiasco with the mics at Guitar Center, he asked what brand I had gotten there and then he looked at me in confusion when I told him. He had never heard of this brand that I had been led to believe was such a great brand. Then he showed me how the brand I was currently testing also made a $21,000 sound console thingie. Uh, yeh, the quality was much better. Sadly, they were going to cost more than the ones they tried to sell me at Guitar Center, but I got them anyways. Not only did they guy at Sam Ash knock off almost $100 each on the mics, but he gave me a free mic cable – the one we tested the mics on. He said that way I knew for sure that it worked since we tested it. This whole process – 15 minutes. 15 minutes! Better service, better product, less time.

RIP Guitar Center.

I am now a Sam Ash customer for life.

I'm going guitar shopping this week...at Sam Ash. Even though I have to drive right by Guitar Center to get there. Maybe I'll flip them off as I pass by.

File under: how to keep (or lose) a customer

My boss - the idiot

I have 3 bosses - one is the controller of the company. I just overheard him telling how he lost $10,000 yesterday playing poker online. Um, I have to work like 3-4 months just to take home that much money.



File under: idiots with too much money

Managers on a power trip - always a good time

An email I got from my boss...

I have gotten a few comments from other departments about you reading the paper at your desk. So to keep both of us from getting in trouble why don't you start reading the paper at home from 7:30-8 and get here at 8. Or something like that.

Yet, I walk by his desk and he's reading the paper...say what?


File under: hypocrisy, lousy boss, my job sucks ass

Note to Disney

Dearest Disney,

Deaths and injuries are bad for business.

Warmest regards,
me



File under: this never happens at Cedar Point!

Stupid people....they're everywhere! and blaming YOU for their fuckups

From my other half, sent from work moments ago...

so i just had one of our thoughts on things proven... i just had a girl call me and say "did you order our products today?" and I said "yes" and she said "well, is there a reason they weren't ordered on wednesday?" and i said "yes. i was missing all kinds of information" which she knew because i called her about the order i needed yesterday and told her i needed it... then i called her again today and asked her if she sent it (and she hadn't). i told her yesterday that i couldn't order without it... then i heard it, someone in the background talking to her "well i am completely out of product!" i am getting real tired of people thinking that they can pass their fucking mistakes off on me...

File under: incompetence strikes again!

Today's lesson: K is for stupid

At taco bell ordering some grease-soaked tacos and all of a sudden the girl working the register goes 'did you go see Carrot Top?' And I'm trying to order so I'm looking around trying to figure out who the hell she is talking to, if she has tourette's or what. And then she looks up at me and goes 'did you go see Carrot Top?' and I look at her like wtf? and she goes 'Your shirt, it says K is for Carrot Top' and I'm like 'no, it doesn't, it says karate chop!' wtf?

Since when is K for Carrot Top? So not only can she not spell for shit, but she can't read! She thinks carrot starts with a 'k'...a 'k!'... a 'K' ferchrissakes!

File under: ignorance, way to go 'no child left behind'

So sorry, we lost your check so we charged your account twice!

So, I noticed that a check I wrote was posted to my account twice and called the bank about it. Here is the response I got...

Thank you for contacting NetBank.

Check #1097 was represented to your account on 7/5/06 in error as a result of being lost in transit within the Federal Reserve Banking System. We have credited your account $200.00 for correction and forwarded this information to the depositing bank for further adjustment. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with this issue. If you need further assistance, please contact us. We value your business and appreciate your choosing NetBank.

While I am grateful to have my $200 back, wtf? Lost within the Federal Reserve Banking system...so it gets taken outta the account twice? Riiiight. Wonder how many poor schmucks this has happened to that never noticed it?

Note to self: keep all money in shoebox under bed. it will be safer there.

File under: incompetence

Bono wants answers, and he wants them now, dammit!

Too bad a bunch of assclowns are replying. Like this little nugget:

You can reduce it and help millons of peolple but you cant make it story.Why ?? The answer is your question: that was asked all over the story of time.

What does that mean exactly? You cant make it story? story? Hrm, I dunno. And here’s a good one:

It's just "one" simple thing, but powerful: pray!

Well, golly gee, it’s just that easy now is it?

Interesting hypocrisy jab here:

Maybe rich white singers in far off lands should sell their mansions, limos, and clothes, get off their narcissistic trip and give it all to the poor. Hard to believe people like that bono guy live in a million dollar mansion and has the gaul to lecture all of us about poverty. People like him and Paul Simon are white-guilters who want attention. When these people sell their mansions and go live here (see link) then I will donate a few bucks. Otherwise, it's do as I say, not as I do, hypocrisy!


And my fave post so far, yay socialism:

Make rich liberals give up their material goods in the name of socialism which they are always beating us over the heads with. How is it possible that rich whiney liberals live in the same city as extremely poor people? Am I the only one who understands this contradiction? Problem solved.

Send Bono your thoughts here.

File under: poverty, hypocrisy?

You know what sounds like fun? Outrunning a group of half-ton bulls! Yeah!

Further proof that there are too many stupid people in the world. How exactly does outrunning a group of bulls seem like a good idea? And the more important question, exactly how much booze must one consume to come to that conclusion?


File under: idiots

AOL..still retarded

As per my earlier post, AOL has had the most brilliant idea about giving away free high speed internet. (bad idea) Supposedly, they think they can make money purely off ad revenue. Apparently, they've had another idea....that totally contradicts their new plan....they've cancelled advertising deals made during the upfront market with broadcast and cable networks. Hrm...


File under: aol still retarded, still sucking ass

This just in...Star Jones has fans! I know, I'm as shocked as you are.

According to an article over at ShowbizData, several thousand visitors to the Star Jones site want to contact ABC about her firing. Now, the article gives the impression that these 'several thousand visitors' are outraged and want to contact ABC execs to berate them...but it doesn't actually say that.

My hypothesis -- thankful viewers want to let ABC know how excited they are to see her outta there! Yeh, I knew she didn't really have any fans...besides those plastic surgeons, et al...if you, too, would like to thank them, the contact info is apparently on her site, but enter at your own risk. godspeed


File under: sneaky TV stars and their blasted tomfoolery!, aka I'm talking to you Star Jones!

AOL throws its hands up in the air and shrugs

Let’s see, according to the Washington Post, AOL stated that it lost 850,000 customers in the first quarter of the year. So, they put their heads together and came up with a brilliant plan. Wait for it…..wait for it….*drumroll*....offer free high speed internet! Yeah! Yeah! Wait…no…wait, no, hells no! What kind of sense does that make? Do they not realize what is driving away their customers? It’s not the price of service asswipes. It is your shitty McShitty™ software. I know, because I’m one of the poor bastards that use it.

Now, listen up AOL, here’s whatcha need to do…get some software that doesn’t lock up and then tell the user that the ‘system is not responding,’ which results in AOL having to restart. That can really put a cramp in your cybering. And what about that AOL Spyware Protection? It never fails that it wants to scan my system when I want to surf the net or check my email. That is so not convenient. Speaking of email, why oh why do I lose my unread mail after 30 days when the hacks that use AOL.com email can store their old mail? The default for AOL should be unlimited mail storage, you stingy bastards. (Reason #1 why I am transitioning to Gmail for my email needs.) And let us not forget that AOL also wants to manage my router for me. AOL is like that bossy kid that sits in the front of the class licking the teacher’s ass and telling everyone what to do. Here’s a memo you may have missed AOL…no one likes the bossy kid!!

File under: Bad Business

and so it begins...

my quest to fight the forces of hypocrisy, ignorance and incompetence.