On the heels of my previous post (which was tounge in cheek for the denser among you) I risk being branded an "anti-fat" guy with this one. Well, heck, I'll admit it... I am "anti-fat" as it's more unhealthy than people realise and will probably contribute to bringing down the health care system in the U.S., but I digress...
Continue reading "Why Are There No Fat People In McDonald's Commercials?" »
Wow... just as I was thinking about writing a "boycott Citgo" post, 7-11 Stores, which has sold Citgo gasoline for 20 years, has decided to dump them and sell their own branded gasoline.
What's the connection between 7-11, Citgo, and Hugo Chavez? Only that Citgo is wholly owned by Petrleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of... Venezuela.
Props to 7-11 for doing the right thing.
Now if we can only completely disconnect from Middle Eastern oil and concentrate on U.S. oil drilling and oil shale production, we'd be stylin'.
Source: Northeast Intelligence Network
I have to say I find it really annoying that my local landline phone provider is Qwest. The only reason I even have a landline account is because I call my mom in Portugal and I can't do that (affordably) with a cell phone.
I'm annoyed because Qwest is the only major telecom provider which has refused to cooperate with the government's request for phone call datamining to ferret out communications between terrorists. Why does that bother me? Couple of reasons:
1. Why in the hell is this even in the news?
Can you imagine how WWII might have turned out if back then there were the amount of information leaks there are today? Or if back then the media had the same outlook of "scoop the other guy at all costs, regardless of the consequences"? I have a feeling I'd be typing this in German instead of English.
2. "Qwest Communications: The Terrorist's Choice"
Might as well make that their new motto. If you were a terrorist and you knew that there was only one phone company that wasn't handing over call log information to the NSA, which provider would YOU use for communications?
3. Phone number tracking: So what?
Have you ever given any thought to the fact that banks and marketing companies have been tracking your every purchase for decades? Do you think that your credit card and ATM purchases aren't datamined to the nth degree and that info isn't used to more effectively target your wallet? How about a Tivo or other brand DVR? Do you not realize that the provider keeps a record of EVERY program you watch? Where's the outcry in regards to corporate datamining? So it's ok in the name of capitalism but God forbid that it be used to protect U.S. citizens?
Get your priorities straight, people.
At a time when a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. is tickling $3 (and is already above that in Hawaii) the announcement that Lee Raymond, ex-CEO of Exxon will be receiving a retirement package worth over $400 MILLION and has already been paid over $600 MILLION over the course of his time there is just insane to me. I don't care if it's in stock options or some other as of yet non-spendable form or WHATEVER.
We're not talking the CEO of a company that makes something like sofas or Oxy-Clean or a bloody Thighmaster that wouldn't impact people if it didn't exist or wasn't sold. This is OIL, folks, something the country cannot survive without and screw capitalism, something needs to be done.
BTW, in case you weren't aware, even the climb in price per barrel of oil to over $70 does not justify (mathematically speaking) the price per gallon we are paying at the pump. You ARE aware that profits of oil companies have DOUBLED from a year ago, aren't you? That certainly doesn't jive with the theory that the price at the pump is just keeping up with the price of oil per barrel.
No don't get me wrong, I'm the first to admit that it takes a lot to run a business, whether it's a corner store or a conglomerate. Risk is involved, capital is involved and those that make the leap should be rewarded. But this? This is abhorrent and is EXACTLY the sort of thing that makes the common person look at giant corporations as "evil" entities. It is friggin' rape or extortion, pure and simple. Take your pick.
Source: Reuters
Check out the new Aston Martin DBS that will make it's debut in the upcoming James Bond Movie: Casino Royale:
Concept....
...and the result.
I have to say that's probably the closest I've ever seen a production car come to the concept drawing/design that inspired it.
Sweet...
Source: MI6
Ok, I know this is so minor that it's stupid, but what can I say...? It's always bugged me that in commercials which advertise either shaving creme or some new, high tech, laser-guided razor (it can't be that far off, can it?), that the actors have shaved BEFOREHAND.
Advertisers: If you want to convince me that your new five blade or whatever razor is really "all that", show a guy with a 5 o'clock shadow applying shaving creme, shaving an area with ONE stroke and have the result be a baby-butt smooth area where the razor just passed.
If you show a guy who's clean shaven running a razor (no doubt without blades) over his face, how am I supposed to believe that your product is so amazing?
According to ABC News (and being reported elsewhere) unemployment is now at it's lowest rate since 2001, and this on the heels of Katrina. Wages are also up by 3.3%.
I guess those evil tax cuts might have been a good thing after all, eh?
The downside is that it may kick inflation up a notch and hurt the stock market. But all you folks out there that hate "big business" should be happy about that, nevermind that it's businesses that create the jobs and pay the wages.
Of course there are companies and executives that take advantage of their employees in order to increase the bottom line and line their pockets, but there are far more that don't IMHO.
Tell me, just how much money do I have to pay to get a decent coffee maker? A really long time ago I had a generic, white, plain old coffee maker that lasted for years and never had a problem. Well-built, even though it was mostly plastic, it never leaked at all and made a decent pot of coffee.
I'm now on my second coffee maker in as many years and the thing is as finicky as a bloody antique sportscar. The first one started leaking from the rim of the coffee pot for some strange reason, and my wife decided to be nice and go ahead and get me a brand new coffee maker a year ago Christmas. This one sometimes leaks onto the hot plate and the counter when the coffee pot is in place for brewing and it sometimes leaks when you pull the pot out to pour a cup of coffee while it's still brewing.
This was not a wildly expensive "Mr.Coffee" machine, but it wasn't a $15.99 Wal-Mart special, either.
So what the heck does a person have to pay for a DECENT coffee maker that will actually last longer than a year without defects?
BTW, I also had problems with a coffee grinder of the same brand a while back. The thing just stopped working and I swear to you they must carefully design these things to break one week after the one year warranty expires. :-\
Yeesh!
Google stock dropped 19% today, losing over $15 billion in market value. I'm no financial genius, but wasn't this stock WAAAAY overpriced?
Anyone out there have even a vague recollection of the 1999 stock market run and what happened in April of 2000? No overvalued dot com stocks involved there, where there?
Oh, wait...
According to Reuters, Exxon had yet another blowout record quarterly profit. Their profit for the quarter was almost 11 BILLION dollars. Now I understand that corporations are in the business of making money, but considering the news (which is not limited to Exxon, but other oil companies as well) don't give me any bogus crap about the price of gasoline at the pump being directly related to the cost of oil per barrel.
I can understand fluctuations in the price of oil, but it stinks to high Heaven that oil company profits increase so bloody dramatically while the price per barrel is skyrocketing. That tells me that consumers are getting doubly gouged and that gas prices could be a lot lower than they are at the pumps right now.
Thanks, Washington for doing such a great job for your lowly citizens.
Try using a kettlebell for high intensity fitness. It burn fat and build muscle like nothing else out there.