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We are very fond of "The Sound of Music," as a movie around about Christmas time, as it makes a lot of moral statements we believe in. We know the movie well, and certainly well enough to know that when you get to the awards scene you are treated to a long, drawn out acceptance by the middle aged lady, and then at least 3 or 4 swings of the spot light to the tunnel to reveal the Trapp family coming out to accept the award. This whole sequence was definitely shortened in the name of cramming in a few more ads. Once HiDef comes down and the battle between blueray and whatever tones down, we'll stick to versions of movies that are as the director and producer originally intended them to be.
Megacorps do affect your intellectual and emotional worlds, willy nilly, at the whim of the advertisers. No censorship, please.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Constitutional Amendment, Interest Rate Cap for Consumers
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Stopping interest rates and fees above 18% would do this country a world of good. Most businesses do not expect returns on investments above 10 to 12% per year. Why should banks be allowed to run wild ? It's because they have the money, and are financing 1/5th of the current presidential election. Here's a quote from MotherJones's John Ridgeway from last July.
"None of this means that Americans who've been planning to cut up their cards should put away the scissors and go shopping. If the bill ever makes it to a vote, it will face a nearly insurmountable obstacle: All told, in 2006, financial and credit card companies gave $7 million in campaign contributions, and banks $25 million, to candidates of both parties, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Leading the pack, with $378,000, was Hillary Clinton."
Consumers need to rise up and free up that money so that businesses can borrow it and jump start the economy. My Republicorps friends all tell me that businesses need money to invest, and denying consumers loans at rates above 18% would surely make for a lot of capital for the businesses who want to make America thrive, no?
So, let's get a constitutional amendment going that caps all consumer lending at 18%, INCLUDING all fees and other assessments of any kind. The cost to consumers to borrow money shall not exceed 18%. Simple simple, and maybe the consumers can dig themselves out from the mountain of debt they now owe. Didn't Jesus drive the money lenders with high rates from the temple ? Now look at the mess we're in. John Edwards seems to be the only candidate addressing this issue.
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Stopping interest rates and fees above 18% would do this country a world of good. Most businesses do not expect returns on investments above 10 to 12% per year. Why should banks be allowed to run wild ? It's because they have the money, and are financing 1/5th of the current presidential election. Here's a quote from MotherJones's John Ridgeway from last July.
"None of this means that Americans who've been planning to cut up their cards should put away the scissors and go shopping. If the bill ever makes it to a vote, it will face a nearly insurmountable obstacle: All told, in 2006, financial and credit card companies gave $7 million in campaign contributions, and banks $25 million, to candidates of both parties, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Leading the pack, with $378,000, was Hillary Clinton."
Consumers need to rise up and free up that money so that businesses can borrow it and jump start the economy. My Republicorps friends all tell me that businesses need money to invest, and denying consumers loans at rates above 18% would surely make for a lot of capital for the businesses who want to make America thrive, no?
So, let's get a constitutional amendment going that caps all consumer lending at 18%, INCLUDING all fees and other assessments of any kind. The cost to consumers to borrow money shall not exceed 18%. Simple simple, and maybe the consumers can dig themselves out from the mountain of debt they now owe. Didn't Jesus drive the money lenders with high rates from the temple ? Now look at the mess we're in. John Edwards seems to be the only candidate addressing this issue.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Privacy, The MegaCorps Strike Back!
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I think it was a lot of consumers concerned about privacy that got the laws passed, but maybe not, based on the way it is used by the MegaCorps.
Let's assume you have a very busy daughter, and a very busy wife, and you are retired, and have plenty of time to handle snarls in your collective contacts with the MegaCorp world. In this case it is the Dental Plan of the daughter, Premier Access, and the dental plan of the mother, delta Dental, both of whch are supposed to cover the daughter's $1300 oral surgery. Can I as father call up and find a way to get this stuff paid? No, privacy is used as the excuse. Even if you get power of attorney, get it notarized and published on line, they still will only speak to the person named.
Why ?
If they (Premier Access)say they won't pay, and then Delta says they won't pay either, because the first one won't pay, THEY ARE RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK, STALLING, SITTING ON THE BALL. iN THE END, YOU WIND UP PAYING FOR WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY SUPPOSEDLY PAID FOR VIA "INSURANCE." The more complicated they can make it for you to get all your ducks in a row, the more often they win.
We have a chance to vote for John Edwards, and I'm gonna take it, because MegaCorps are self serving a**&^($s. Oh, BTW, Home Depot has screwed up a second time in two months on correcting a payment for 12 months, no payments, no interest.
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I think it was a lot of consumers concerned about privacy that got the laws passed, but maybe not, based on the way it is used by the MegaCorps.
Let's assume you have a very busy daughter, and a very busy wife, and you are retired, and have plenty of time to handle snarls in your collective contacts with the MegaCorp world. In this case it is the Dental Plan of the daughter, Premier Access, and the dental plan of the mother, delta Dental, both of whch are supposed to cover the daughter's $1300 oral surgery. Can I as father call up and find a way to get this stuff paid? No, privacy is used as the excuse. Even if you get power of attorney, get it notarized and published on line, they still will only speak to the person named.
Why ?
If they (Premier Access)say they won't pay, and then Delta says they won't pay either, because the first one won't pay, THEY ARE RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK, STALLING, SITTING ON THE BALL. iN THE END, YOU WIND UP PAYING FOR WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY SUPPOSEDLY PAID FOR VIA "INSURANCE." The more complicated they can make it for you to get all your ducks in a row, the more often they win.
We have a chance to vote for John Edwards, and I'm gonna take it, because MegaCorps are self serving a**&^($s. Oh, BTW, Home Depot has screwed up a second time in two months on correcting a payment for 12 months, no payments, no interest.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Which is More Toxic: Lead Batteries or Nuclear Wastes
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Bush and the Free markets are now doing a very good job of telling you what to drive. Something that doesn't consume too much gas. Had he invested the $1,000,000,000,000 in 2.5 million homes at $40,000 in solar install each, the Arabs would have hung Osama and his followers for us, due to the drop in the price of oil. Many American soldiers and Iraqi civilians would still be alive. This policy could still be implemented.
That kind of money would have touched off a firestorm of research to make even more efficient solar panel, and the world would have applauded. If you believe that the cheapest and most efficient solar panels have already been invented, and no improvements are possible, you are a Flat Earther. The last person to fall off that edge was the Urban Legend Patent Office Head, who, in 1899, declared that the Patent Office should be closed, because, everything that was going to be invented, had been invented.
BTW Dr. Bill Wattenburg, keeper of the nuclear flame, went ballistic on San Francisco radio station KGO last night when I suggested this scheme. His reaction, "oh the horror of all those LEAD acid batteries, toxic, toxic, toxic." This guy is quite happy with spent nuclear fuel, and I wonder what he'll do with all his vehicles once he gets rid of his batteries. Do we bust Reibes (our local auto parts store) for that pallet of toxic, toxic, toxic batteries shrinkwrapped on the pallet for recycling ?
Give me a break ! BTW, he also slidered me down (the control that allows the host to kill any further speech from the caller) to make it appear as though I was just taking a beating without being able to counter his arguments. This man has correctly pointed out that we spill oil all over the place in the form of asphalt (roads) without any obvious ill effects. Does Slithering (Harry Potter) make the Slider controls? Seems likely to me. KVMR has the last honest talk shows, or do they? Slidering should never be allowed on internet broadcasts, and yes, it would be possible to do both at once.
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Bush and the Free markets are now doing a very good job of telling you what to drive. Something that doesn't consume too much gas. Had he invested the $1,000,000,000,000 in 2.5 million homes at $40,000 in solar install each, the Arabs would have hung Osama and his followers for us, due to the drop in the price of oil. Many American soldiers and Iraqi civilians would still be alive. This policy could still be implemented.
That kind of money would have touched off a firestorm of research to make even more efficient solar panel, and the world would have applauded. If you believe that the cheapest and most efficient solar panels have already been invented, and no improvements are possible, you are a Flat Earther. The last person to fall off that edge was the Urban Legend Patent Office Head, who, in 1899, declared that the Patent Office should be closed, because, everything that was going to be invented, had been invented.
BTW Dr. Bill Wattenburg, keeper of the nuclear flame, went ballistic on San Francisco radio station KGO last night when I suggested this scheme. His reaction, "oh the horror of all those LEAD acid batteries, toxic, toxic, toxic." This guy is quite happy with spent nuclear fuel, and I wonder what he'll do with all his vehicles once he gets rid of his batteries. Do we bust Reibes (our local auto parts store) for that pallet of toxic, toxic, toxic batteries shrinkwrapped on the pallet for recycling ?
Give me a break ! BTW, he also slidered me down (the control that allows the host to kill any further speech from the caller) to make it appear as though I was just taking a beating without being able to counter his arguments. This man has correctly pointed out that we spill oil all over the place in the form of asphalt (roads) without any obvious ill effects. Does Slithering (Harry Potter) make the Slider controls? Seems likely to me. KVMR has the last honest talk shows, or do they? Slidering should never be allowed on internet broadcasts, and yes, it would be possible to do both at once.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Bernie Ward, Can You Frame Someone on the Internet ?
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As a baseline, here is a website with the indictment:
http://abclocal.go.com/three/kgo/bernie_ward_indictment.pdf
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As a baseline, here is a website with the indictment:
http://abclocal.go.com/three/kgo/bernie_ward_indictment.pdf
On Bernie. He's caught up the same way the Wyoming Senator was, but has a much longer timeline, running from December 23rd, 2004, 1st count, through Jan 1 - Jan 13 2nd and 3rd count. less than four weeks in all. Did he do what he did for the reasons he said? My guess is yes, but I'd really have to wonder and learn more about an area I just don't go to. Nobody has brought up the reason child porn is illegal. It's to protect kids from winding up in the images. Did he actually do it at all, or did someone remotely control his computer and set him up ? Apparently his alibi precludes that possibility. I love a teaser headline.
Now, if you got the software that ages people for later discovery identification in missing children cases, it would seem to me you could wire it backwards, and make all the child porn you wanted from people now adults, or even deceased. What wonders of the digital age! I do not have a clue as to what would make adults interested in child porn, but I guess some people go down that path. Maybe this would provide an outlet, in a virtual world, in 3D, in a real world mental lockup.
I really doubt that Bernie is one of them. Blaming Bush personally is unlikely. Blaming Bush for a climate, in which some underling feels like he's doing God's work to trap a liberal broadcaster any way he can, is quite justified. I say innocent, even if "proven" guilty, unless I agree with the proof.
Of course the silly part here is that we are not allowed to see the porn pictures, they are illegal. I would like to know the number of images, the sizes of images, the description of who (ages noted) in them doing what, before I go judgmental. Apparently a lot of people in the forum feel otherwise. I'd also like to see the IP addies and the cases pending against the characters on the other end of the lines. Surely they bust them them all. If not, why not ?Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Possible Solution to Random Mass Shooters
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After Virginia Tech, I suggested a rather complex system of blunted stinky crossbow arrows, all registered and controlled carefully.
Now I don't really care. This is totally ridiculous. Let's keep it simple. K.I.S.S.
Carry a tire iron.
The kind that come with mid compacts is just about perfect. 9 inches to 14 inches long, 1/2 inch steel shaft. Can be in the bottom of a purse or brief case. If you carry one of these, you can at least throw it at the SOB with the weapon. You might get shot yourself, but that is likely to happen anyway. The first time a guy pulls out gun in a mall and is immediately pelted with 20 tire irons, will probably be the last. You can have fun practicing with it in your big backyard. Don't hit the squirrels.
Merry Christmas everybody, and let's hope this is the last of these nut cases.
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After Virginia Tech, I suggested a rather complex system of blunted stinky crossbow arrows, all registered and controlled carefully.
Now I don't really care. This is totally ridiculous. Let's keep it simple. K.I.S.S.
Carry a tire iron.
The kind that come with mid compacts is just about perfect. 9 inches to 14 inches long, 1/2 inch steel shaft. Can be in the bottom of a purse or brief case. If you carry one of these, you can at least throw it at the SOB with the weapon. You might get shot yourself, but that is likely to happen anyway. The first time a guy pulls out gun in a mall and is immediately pelted with 20 tire irons, will probably be the last. You can have fun practicing with it in your big backyard. Don't hit the squirrels.
Merry Christmas everybody, and let's hope this is the last of these nut cases.
Corporations and Illegals with the Right Stuff
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Thanksgiving Day saw an "illegal" save a 9 year boy in a remote USA desert after mom died in a car crash. He did this even though he knew he would be sent back to Mexico for his efforts. He said he thought of his own children.
On the KGO radio show of Gene Burns, hosted by Brian Copeland, last night, a caller suggested that a family should sponsor this obviously outstanding potential citizen. A sponsor is one who will take responsibility for assuring a new potential citizen's success in this country.
I normally am at odds with the concept of corporations having all the rights of humans, especially the right as a 100 million per year human to lobby for yet more laws in that particular corporation's favor. I think such sillynesses may be what historians will record as a prime reason for the fall of the USA.
But, if corporations have such human rights, then why can't a non profit corporation be formed to "sponsor" new potential citizens. Instead of all the responsibility falling on one family, let a bunch of people band together, chip in cash, buy or lease a half way house, take turns teaching English and other skills, and give men and women like this guy a chance?
Oh, he broke the law? Yes. If you ever break a law, do you make a citizen's arrest on yourself? If your boss breaks a law....your nephew.....your mother in law??? See, there are some breakings of law you just ignore or look the other way at. Let common sense temper the law with sanity and compassion.
Fortunately this seems to be happening in this case.
I'm having href code troubles, so look for the article at www.examiner.com
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Thanksgiving Day saw an "illegal" save a 9 year boy in a remote USA desert after mom died in a car crash. He did this even though he knew he would be sent back to Mexico for his efforts. He said he thought of his own children.
On the KGO radio show of Gene Burns, hosted by Brian Copeland, last night, a caller suggested that a family should sponsor this obviously outstanding potential citizen. A sponsor is one who will take responsibility for assuring a new potential citizen's success in this country.
I normally am at odds with the concept of corporations having all the rights of humans, especially the right as a 100 million per year human to lobby for yet more laws in that particular corporation's favor. I think such sillynesses may be what historians will record as a prime reason for the fall of the USA.
But, if corporations have such human rights, then why can't a non profit corporation be formed to "sponsor" new potential citizens. Instead of all the responsibility falling on one family, let a bunch of people band together, chip in cash, buy or lease a half way house, take turns teaching English and other skills, and give men and women like this guy a chance?
Oh, he broke the law? Yes. If you ever break a law, do you make a citizen's arrest on yourself? If your boss breaks a law....your nephew.....your mother in law??? See, there are some breakings of law you just ignore or look the other way at. Let common sense temper the law with sanity and compassion.
Fortunately this seems to be happening in this case.
I'm having href code troubles, so look for the article at www.examiner.com
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