Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I'm on My Way to Philadelphia
I'm on my way to Philadelphia for the National Consumer Law Litigation conference. While I'm at McDonalds using their wifi, I thought about the legend that W.C. Fields put on his tombstone:"all things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia." I found out that's false. Here's a picture of his real tombstone.
He DID say, "I once spent a year in Philadelphia. I think it was on a Sunday." He can pick on Philadelphia. He was born there.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Johnny Cash as John Brown
This week marks the 150th Anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, one of the most interesting and under-taught episodes of American history. I'm surprised there hasn't been a major Hollywood movie about John Brown. Here's a clip from Johnny Cash's portrayal of Brown in the miniseries North and South. It's not bad, but I imagine John Brown as more gaunt and possessed.
This week marks the 150th Anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, one of the most interesting and under-taught episodes of American history. I'm surprised there hasn't been a major Hollywood movie about John Brown. Here's a clip from Johnny Cash's portrayal of Brown in the miniseries North and South. It's not bad, but I imagine John Brown as more gaunt and possessed.
The Truce is off Between Obama and Health Insurance Companies
Obama: Insurance Companies are "Deceptive and Dishonest"
President Obama started his health campaign with what was supposed to be a truce with the insurance companies. Apparently their recent efforts to gut then kill health reform (what a surprise) means that the truce is off. President Obama is now making statements like the insurance companies are "deceptive and dishonest" (and alliterative too) Here's another revelation: the ocean is wet.
Note to insurance companies, you shouldn't have ought to make him mad.
Obama: Insurance Companies are "Deceptive and Dishonest"
President Obama started his health campaign with what was supposed to be a truce with the insurance companies. Apparently their recent efforts to gut then kill health reform (what a surprise) means that the truce is off. President Obama is now making statements like the insurance companies are "deceptive and dishonest" (and alliterative too) Here's another revelation: the ocean is wet.
Note to insurance companies, you shouldn't have ought to make him mad.
From the Senseless Waste of Human Life File
How much life does Youtube WASTE?
Kill Barney was one of the first Internet memes. Dora the Murderer is along the same lines, except Dora usually goes on the offensive.
Here's the first Dora the Murderer video which has been viewed 5.7 million times on youtube.com.
It's only 17 second long, but collectively, that's over 3 year's worth of viewing time. If you count all the follow-up videos, wasted time must be in the multiple lifetimes.
How much time do people waste viewing this blog? Figure an average viewing time of 1.2 hours, times 0 viewers, that's 0 hours. I feel so superior.
How much life does Youtube WASTE?
Kill Barney was one of the first Internet memes. Dora the Murderer is along the same lines, except Dora usually goes on the offensive.
Here's the first Dora the Murderer video which has been viewed 5.7 million times on youtube.com.
It's only 17 second long, but collectively, that's over 3 year's worth of viewing time. If you count all the follow-up videos, wasted time must be in the multiple lifetimes.
How much time do people waste viewing this blog? Figure an average viewing time of 1.2 hours, times 0 viewers, that's 0 hours. I feel so superior.
Darth Vader's New Look
Thanks for forwrading this goes to "The Amazing A" at Your Average Cliche Blog.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Airplanes Too Ugly to Print
Smithsonian Air and Space has a neat little story on Aircraft that are/were so ugly that they don't want to print the pictures. (They do anyway.) Worth a look.
Smithsonian Air and Space has a neat little story on Aircraft that are/were so ugly that they don't want to print the pictures. (They do anyway.) Worth a look.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Steve's Guide to Being Undefeated in the NFL
(Orton no longer hears a "Boo")
After 5 weeks, there are only 5 teams undefeated in the NFL. In no particular order, those teams are the New Orleans Saints, the Indianapolis Colts, the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Denver Broncos. What does it take to be undefeated in the NFL this year? It's simple, your quarterback needs to be a Manning, a Favre OR A PURDUE ALUM.
It's not surprising that former Super Bowl champs Eli Manning, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre have kept their teams at the top of the NFL this year. What is a little more surprising is that former Purdue University quarterbacks Drew Brees and (especially) Kyle Orton are right there with them at the top of the standings. From a historical perspective, it shouldn't be a surprise at all. Former Purdue Quarterbacks include champions Bob Griese and Len Dawson.
A hearty congratulations to Kyle Orton. The Broncos were ridiculed earlier this year for trading away proven quarterback Jay Cutler for Orton, whose performance steadily improved with the Bears but remained somewhat uneven. This year, though, with the Broncos, Orton has a quarterback rating of 97.4 so far this year, a number which is better than the current career rating of future hall-of-famer Tom Brady.
Next week the ranks of undefeated quarterbacks will go down by at least one. Eli Manning's Giants will face off with Drew Brees's Saints. The indianapolis Colts will remain undefeated, they have a bye week. I like the Colts' chances overall. Not only do they have the superfantastic Peyton Manning, but sitting on the bench waiting his turn is another former Purdue Boilermaker, Curtiis Painter.
(Orton no longer hears a "Boo")
After 5 weeks, there are only 5 teams undefeated in the NFL. In no particular order, those teams are the New Orleans Saints, the Indianapolis Colts, the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Denver Broncos. What does it take to be undefeated in the NFL this year? It's simple, your quarterback needs to be a Manning, a Favre OR A PURDUE ALUM.
It's not surprising that former Super Bowl champs Eli Manning, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre have kept their teams at the top of the NFL this year. What is a little more surprising is that former Purdue University quarterbacks Drew Brees and (especially) Kyle Orton are right there with them at the top of the standings. From a historical perspective, it shouldn't be a surprise at all. Former Purdue Quarterbacks include champions Bob Griese and Len Dawson.
A hearty congratulations to Kyle Orton. The Broncos were ridiculed earlier this year for trading away proven quarterback Jay Cutler for Orton, whose performance steadily improved with the Bears but remained somewhat uneven. This year, though, with the Broncos, Orton has a quarterback rating of 97.4 so far this year, a number which is better than the current career rating of future hall-of-famer Tom Brady.
Next week the ranks of undefeated quarterbacks will go down by at least one. Eli Manning's Giants will face off with Drew Brees's Saints. The indianapolis Colts will remain undefeated, they have a bye week. I like the Colts' chances overall. Not only do they have the superfantastic Peyton Manning, but sitting on the bench waiting his turn is another former Purdue Boilermaker, Curtiis Painter.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Nasa Crashes Rocket into Moon
Yesterday NASA crashed a rocket into the moon to see if there is any water there. In its press release, NASA thanked its celebrity guest rocket driver, Billy Joel.
Afterwards, Nasa and the Moon exchanged insurance information.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Can You Really Get a Free Credit Score?
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article comparing websites that promise you a free credit score. Usually you have the right to a free credit report through annualcreditreport.com, but at that site, you can't get a free credit score. More and more, it's the score that wags the dog. The sites are Credit.com, CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com. The credit scores on these sites aren't the complete reports that you typically purchase the credit reporting agencies and at myfico.com, but they still could be useful. I haven't had the chance to check into these yet, but I mean to.
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article comparing websites that promise you a free credit score. Usually you have the right to a free credit report through annualcreditreport.com, but at that site, you can't get a free credit score. More and more, it's the score that wags the dog. The sites are Credit.com, CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com. The credit scores on these sites aren't the complete reports that you typically purchase the credit reporting agencies and at myfico.com, but they still could be useful. I haven't had the chance to check into these yet, but I mean to.
Protection One - Customer Zero
In the course of researching for a case involving Protection One Alarm Monitoring, I accessed a Better Business Bureau report on the company, and the report indicated an A+ rating. Alright, let's look further down . . . FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-TWO COMPLAINTS? Yep, as of today, anyway. Perhaps it's because they listed 432 as "resolved" and 46 as "administratively closed". Suffice it to say that a typical consumer's idea of what is "resolved" may not be the same as how the Better Business Bureau defines the term.
An excuse for a Monty Python clip? On the subject of complaints: - The Argument Clinic. (FYI Monty Python has authorized certain clips, including this one, on Youtube.)
In the course of researching for a case involving Protection One Alarm Monitoring, I accessed a Better Business Bureau report on the company, and the report indicated an A+ rating. Alright, let's look further down . . . FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-TWO COMPLAINTS? Yep, as of today, anyway. Perhaps it's because they listed 432 as "resolved" and 46 as "administratively closed". Suffice it to say that a typical consumer's idea of what is "resolved" may not be the same as how the Better Business Bureau defines the term.
An excuse for a Monty Python clip? On the subject of complaints: - The Argument Clinic. (FYI Monty Python has authorized certain clips, including this one, on Youtube.)
Headline of the day:
"Tivo Study: Republicans Like Crabs, Dems Like Kathy Griffin"
Credit goes to Alex Weprin at broadcastingcable.com for the headline to his article, Tivo Study: Republicans Like Crabs, Dems Like Kathy Griffin. The article is about the results of a TIVO study that shows that Republicans like The O'Reilly Factor and The Deadliest Catch, whereas Democrats watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The D-List with Kathy Griffin. Personally, I would have never assumed that crabs and Kathy Griffin were mutually exclusive, neverthless, the results were so pronounced that not a single Republican in the Survey TIVO'd Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Not a single person who was likely to buy an alternative fuel vehicle within the next two years watched O'Reilly.
It's a shame that no Republicans watch Countdown because Keith Olbermann just presented a concise and thoughtful one hour long "special comment" on health care reform.
Finally, another little bit of irony, Republicans seem to like Fox Network shows, but Kathy Griffin is Peter Griffin's counsin. Here's the proof:
"Tivo Study: Republicans Like Crabs, Dems Like Kathy Griffin"
Credit goes to Alex Weprin at broadcastingcable.com for the headline to his article, Tivo Study: Republicans Like Crabs, Dems Like Kathy Griffin. The article is about the results of a TIVO study that shows that Republicans like The O'Reilly Factor and The Deadliest Catch, whereas Democrats watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The D-List with Kathy Griffin. Personally, I would have never assumed that crabs and Kathy Griffin were mutually exclusive, neverthless, the results were so pronounced that not a single Republican in the Survey TIVO'd Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Not a single person who was likely to buy an alternative fuel vehicle within the next two years watched O'Reilly.
It's a shame that no Republicans watch Countdown because Keith Olbermann just presented a concise and thoughtful one hour long "special comment" on health care reform.
Finally, another little bit of irony, Republicans seem to like Fox Network shows, but Kathy Griffin is Peter Griffin's counsin. Here's the proof:
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Chrysler to Unveil 5-year Plan on November 4
Chrysler Group will unveil it's 5-year plan on November 4th. This should be, how do you say "interesting" in engtalian? The government gave Chrysler enough money to get its immediate bills paid, but not enough money to pay for complete redesigns of the entire product line. Fiat has repeatedly stressed that it is not going to invest cash in Chrysler.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Delphi is closing the book on Chapter 11
It looks like Delphi's Steve Miller is no longer the Pompatus of bankruptcy. Delphi is finally leaving Chapter 11 after 4 years and billions of dollars of post Chapter 11 life support. Delphi's bankruptcy exit is enabled by yet another cash infusion from General Motors, this one courtesy of the Federal Government.
Was Delphi worth saving? Of 44 US-based plants pre-bankruptcy, post-bankruptcy, Delphi will have exactly 4 working factories in the United States. It's U.S. workforce has fallen from 50,000 employees to 14,000. From being a bastion for American-sourced car parts, Delphi has become a leader in domestic content reduction.
Bye Steve-o We'll miss you.
It looks like Delphi's Steve Miller is no longer the Pompatus of bankruptcy. Delphi is finally leaving Chapter 11 after 4 years and billions of dollars of post Chapter 11 life support. Delphi's bankruptcy exit is enabled by yet another cash infusion from General Motors, this one courtesy of the Federal Government.
Was Delphi worth saving? Of 44 US-based plants pre-bankruptcy, post-bankruptcy, Delphi will have exactly 4 working factories in the United States. It's U.S. workforce has fallen from 50,000 employees to 14,000. From being a bastion for American-sourced car parts, Delphi has become a leader in domestic content reduction.
Bye Steve-o We'll miss you.
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