October 26, 2014

Just saw the first Christmas themed commercial - Best Buy

Totally repulsed, I vow not to shop Best Buy this season!

October 23, 2014

Why I hate neighbors

When we bought our house, we were the only ones on the road for a mile either direction. Then one day, the developers came in purchased the wooded land around us and cut the trees down and put up houses.

Suddenly, we have neighbors on 3 sides. One built a berm on our property and planted evergreens on the property line, the next one decided they owned half of our back yard. The third neighbor hired someone to clean up their leaves, all they did was blow them on our property in big piles and took off. I came home today and had huge piles of leaves in my yard parallel with the property line.

Yeah, neighbors are great! NOT! It seems like I drew the biggest assholes in the area.

October 21, 2014

Another American success story: We Spent $7.6 Billion To Crush The Afghan Opium Trade—And ...

We Spent $7.6 Billion To Crush The Afghan Opium Trade—And It's Doing Better Than Ever

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is at record levels, according to a new report from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. That's despite more than a decade of American efforts to knock out the Afghan drug trade—at a cost of roughly $7.6 billion.

SIGAR's data, which comes from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), shows that Afghan opium cultivation nearly tripled between 1994 and 2013. More than 780 tons of heroin or morphine could be produced with the current crop, whose total value is estimated at nearly $3 billion, up from $2 billion in 2012.


http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/afghanistan-opium-poppy-heroin-record-levels

Part of bu$h and cheney's Nation Building I presume.

October 15, 2014

CDC says Ebola patient traveled on flight from Cleveland on Monday

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The second Dallas health care worker with Ebola was on a flight from Cleveland to Dallas on Monday — the day before she reported symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

Because of the proximity in time between the Monday evening flight and the first report of her illness, the CDC wants to interview all 132 passengers on her flight — Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 from Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth, which landed at 8:16 p.m. CT Monday, the CDC said.

The hospital worker was involved in the care of a Liberian man who died of Ebola last week at a Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

A release from Frontier states:

“On the morning of Oct. 14, the second healthcare worker reported to the hospital with a low-grade fever and was isolated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that the second healthcare worker who tested positive last night for Ebola traveled by air Oct. 13, the day before she reported symptoms.

http://fox8.com/2014/10/15/cdc-notifies-frontier-passengers-says-ebola-patient-traveled-on-flight-from-cle-monday/

October 14, 2014

Did the ACA bring back the spouse penalty?

We are approaching the renewal period for our health insurance and a couple of things surprised me as I reviewed the changes.

One of them was that I will now be penalized, charged an additional $100/month because my wife works and could get insurance through her work. That is on top of purchasing the Family package over the Single package.

The other thing was the Cadillac charge for one of the 3 options of health care. Meaning that I will be taxed 40% of the cost if I select the "traditional" health care package vs. the one that I have to pay out of my pocket either up-front or at time of service and get reimbursed.

I thought the spouse penalty was outlawed several years ago.

October 14, 2014

Our Food Does Rot: McDonald's New Marketing Strategy

McDonald's wants the world to know that yes, its food can rot.

In its latest attempt to woo health-conscious customers to the Golden Arches, the company has embarked on a campaign to debunk common perceptions about the quality and nutritional value of its food. At the top of the list was a the long-standing idea that McDonald's meals don't decompose.

The fast-food giant even hired Grant Imahara, the former host of the TV show “MythBusters,” to star in videos touting, for example, the quality of the beef used to make burger patties.

McDonald’s has struggled to defend its cheap, fattening fare since the 2004 release of the Oscar-nominated “Super Size Me.” A scene from the documentary, which tracks star Morgan Spurlock as he eats nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 days, showed how McDonald’s french fries did not decay when kept in a glass container for eight weeks.

Compounding the bad press was a blog by a Utah man named David Whipple, who claimed to have photographs of a burger that remained unchanged since it was purchased in 1999.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/our-food-does-rot-mcdonalds-new-marketing-strategy/ar-AA6MFCa


I remember seeing a story about a guy testing how long McDonald's Fries lasted without showing sings of rot.

October 8, 2014

Title Town USA: Gameday on Campus

Title Town USA: Northwest Missouri State 49, Northeastern State 7

My alma matter, My wife's hometown made the front pages of Gameday.

I spent 20+ years of my life in this community, I was at both the games mentioned in this article.

One town racked up a 60-0 record across all football teams in the town from Middle School through the University.

A really good synopsis on life in this Midwest College town.


Like most towns in the Heartland, football is central to life in Maryville. There are more radio stations broadcasting football on Friday nights than playing music. “There’s not much to do around here,” one resident explained. “On Saturdays in the fall, everyone goes to the game.” High school games attract a few thousand fans while college games regularly bring in eight or nine thousand. Walking around during the week, talk centers on the team’s past performance and their chances going forward.

While student interest has increased in recent years, it’s really the town that has embraced the team. Traditionally, the division 2 Championship game is held in Florence, Alabama, an eleven-hour drive from Maryville. When Northwest is in the game, the entire town shuts down as people crowd into cars and pick-up trucks to make the pilgrimage south. “It felt like a home game last year because we had so many fans there. Basically the whole town went,” a resident told me. “Many people centered their holiday travels around the game.”

<snip>
A Northwest alum who has served as a geography professor for the past three decades described this feeling as pride in place. “Football is sort of like modern warfare – it’s tribal. You have these different towns or tribes all battling each other and that creates a sense of pride in your own community.” The Professor, Ted Doudge, spends much of his time creating a variety of sports related maps (think: number of recruits from different regions of the country). One of his maps shows the average Division 2 attendance over the past decade around the country. He uses different sized footballs to indicate scale. Maryville has the largest football.

The team’s on-field success has spilled into the community. Increased attendance has boosted revenue for hotels and restaurants. Added exposure has led to a surge in university applications and alumni donations. A local bank even donated a multi-million dollar jumbotron this past year.


http://gamedayoncampus.com/2014/10/title-town-usa-northwest-missouri-state-49-northeastern-state-7/

October 7, 2014

Breaking Up Is the New Thing to Do - Larger companies splitting in two

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, investors bet on companies that seemed too big to fail. Even if a business wasn’t growing at breakneck speed, there was safety in large numbers; the more sales the better, it seemed.

So in 2011, when Hewlett-Packard hastily announced a plan to break in two, investors balked. Separating HP’s personal computers unit from its enterprise products and services seemed a risky bet that could leave both halves vulnerable. That plan was shelved, and the chief executive who proposed the split was summarily dismissed.

But today, stock market investors are betting on companies with tightly focused visions. Too many divisions are seen as a distraction for management. And activist investors are eager to take small stakes in big companies and call for breakups, betting that profit will follow.

<snip>

“A move like this a few years ago might have looked like a fire sale,” Mr. Burris said. “Now, this move improves its focus, simplifying some of the complexity.”

Ralph V. Whitworth, the activist investor who gained a seat on HP’s board, hailed the split on Monday as a victory for shareholders, a reminder of the degree to which the decision was motivated by financial concerns.

The separation is “a brilliant value-enhancing move at the perfect time in the turnaround,” Mr. Whitworth said. “Shareholders will now be able to invest in the respective asset groups without the fear of cross-subsidies and inefficiencies that invariably plague large business conglomerates.”

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/breaking-up-is-the-new-thing-to-do/?_php=true&_type=blogs&emc=edit_th_20141007&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=45299538&_r=0

Working for a company that is going through a split is a nerve wracking experience, you don't know where you will fall or if you might even fall out in the shake up.

September 22, 2014

Is there anything strange about this picture?

Kerry looks vertical as he ascends the steps to his plane, it is the angle of the plane behind him that has me confused. Planes usually don't sit on a slope sideways.

September 11, 2014

Why do we not commemorate 12/7 that way we do 9/11?

Is it because no remembers December 7, 1941 any more? Most of those who were alive are too old and can't remember anymore?

Is it because we don't need to fear the Japanese?

I find it appalling that we focus so much time on this date while neglecting a similar previous event.

Just saying.