Randomania

Cops bust seven men playing chess in upper Manhattan park

2010-11-18T20:48:00.000-05:00

Drop that bishop and come out with your hands up!

A squad of cops in bulletproof vests swooped into an upper Manhattan park and charged seven men with the "crime" of playing chess in an area off-limits to adults unaccompanied by kids -- even though no youngsters were there.

"Is chess really something that should be considered a threat to the neighborhood?" Inwood resident and mom Joanne Johnson wrote Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly after the raid.

"This incident is an embarrassment to the officers from the 34th Precinct who felt that it was necessary to use their badge and authority to issue such a random summons."

ROOKED: Junior Mendoza says cops only “should have given us a warning.”

The knights in Kevlar armor gave all seven suspects desk-appearance tickets.

The chess tables where they were ticketed for "failure to comply with signs" are in a fenced-in area where posted notices read: "Adults allowed in playground areas only when accompanied by a child under the age of 12."

Police said the rule protects kids from pedophiles or others who might want to harm them.

A police source added, "It’s the broken windows theory . . . small things can turn into bigger things. Some citizens may see it as police harassment, but God forbid something happens to a child, people would be complaining, Why didn’t the police enforce these rules? That’s what they would be griping about."

Yacahuda "Y.A." Harrison, 49, one of those chess aficionados, said he saw those signs months ago and "asked the [Parks] ranger if we had permission to be there."

"The ranger said, 'Oh no, that's fine, that's only written for pedophiles.' "

Since then, he said, parents have welcomed him and the other players -- and even had their kids take chess lessons from them.

"The day we got picked up, there were no kids" in the playground, he said. "They treated us like drug dealers. All we were doing was playing chess."

Don't Touch My Junk!

2010-11-17T21:04:00.002-05:00

John Tyner's confrontation with a TSA security agent has become the national face joining a chorus of many Americans who are angry and frustrated about the overly invasive TSA full body pat down for people refusing to undergo a "naked" x-ray imaging scanner. When the TSA agent explained to Tyner that he would have to touch his groin area, Tyner told the TSA agent, "if you touch my junk I'm going to have you arrested"

Tyner not only got his 15-minute of fame but his spontaneous outburst has extended his fame indefinitely. This is yet another example of how such instant pop culture phrases are added to the English language. "Don't Touch My Junk" will surely be used by Americans in conversations and will be used by entrepreneurs to sell products. It will surely be used by comedians. For me, I would have told off the agent..."if you touch my precious, I'm going to have you arrested."

I agree that there has got to be some sort of balance in providing security to screen passengers going through our airports. The TSA has told us to SHUT UP and subject ourselves to full body pat down if we choose not to go through the "naked body" x-ray machines. It's for our own good they tell us. However, the political correctness practiced by the TSA is going to get Americans killed one day. Where's the common sense? Let's not waste time patting down three year olds and elderly nuns. We secure the passengers but most of the cargo on passenger airlines are not scanned. How's that for security? Isn't it a joke and tragedy waiting to happen? Let's learn from the El Al Airlines and how they conduct security checks.

Lack of common sense?

Hilarious Taiwanese Cartoon News Explains the TSA Backlash

2010-10-24T20:03:00.001-04:00

When Californians head to the polls this November 2nd, I hope they vote the ultra liberal US Senator Mrs. Barbara Boxer out of office. She epitomizes the overbearing attitude of the ruling elites in the US Congress who think they know more and are better than us. They think they are in Washington not represent us, but to rule us. Let's not forget Mrs. Boxer’s dressing down of Brigadier General Michael Walsh. When General Walsh addressed her as “Ma’am,” in answering a question, she sarcastically interrupted: “Could you say Senator, instead of Ma’am? I worked so hard to get that title, so I’d appreciate it.” Her behavior is disrespectful, arrogant, condescending and demeaning. No wonder we the people have a very low esteem of congress.

Video of Mrs. Boxer dressing down General Walsh...

TV Campaign Ad to remove Mrs. Boxer. Watch it and laugh your tail off

What goes around comes around. Mrs Boxer being told and owned...

How to increase newspaper readership

2010-04-09T22:18:00.004-04:00

Most newspapers and TV news in the US are losing readers/audiences left and right mainly because they no longer control the news after Al Gore invented the internet. The ultra liberal views and biases of most "journalists" have not help their cause as well. Today's newspapers and TV "news" are too boring. I have better things to do than read liberal one sided "news" written by supposedly highly educated elitists in the New York Times or watch the ultra liberal twit Katie Couric pretend she is the best news anchor in the world.

Won't it be more interesting if the New York Times change their format and report news like these newspaper clippings from around the world (see below). May be it will stamp the tide and improve their ratings and readership. Read on...

A Chinese Whitney Houston?

2010-04-07T09:17:00.006-04:00

Whitney's "I will always love you" is a very difficult song to sing because of the song's high notes. You got to have a good voice and be able to pelt out high octaves without breaking a wine glass to be able to play in Whitney's league. Meet Lin Yu Chun. He's a contestant on a Taiwanese talent show called 'Super Star Avenue' a show similar to 'American Idol." Chun performed a rendition of Whitney Houston’s song and I must say he is quite impressive. He's got talent...no doubt about it. However, I think he needs a professional hair cut and a liposuction.

Summer! Let's go to the beach!

2010-04-04T11:05:00.002-04:00

WHAT THE...

DID I NOT TELL YOU TO COME EARLY!!!!!?

Questions:

Where the heck is Waldo?

If you fart, will any one know?

If you leak will anyone know?

If you strip, will the beach be less crowded or will you attract more crowd?

If you are a shark is this a potential feast or are you for once scared of humans?

If you're an eel or coral snake, would you swim between legs just to piss off the humans away from your play ground?

If all the people jump into the sea at once, will it cause a tsunami in Hawaii?

It's time to go if...

ocean life starts floating up to the surface

if your dog won't play in the water

if you panic every 5 minutes because you lose sight of your kids

you rather pee in the sea instead of lining up for two hours at the toilet

if the life guards won't go into the water

your boyfriend has wondering eyes and starts showing off his miniature assets

if your girlfriend is more popular than you

if your boyfriend tells you this is the best vacation he ever had

Credit: Not sure who to credit. These pictures came to me via email presumably a mass distribution circling the globe. The email claims it is a China beach but it looks like Chosun, Korea to me and not a beach in China.

Pet shop owner fined and under house arrest for selling goldfish to 14 yr old

2010-03-30T20:08:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while there comes a story that makes you wonder what people are thinking. It shows the level of stupidity and the IQ level of those in positions of authority who dispenses justice. This is one story I label "IQ Zero."

By JAYA NARAIN
Mail Online

Her offence was to unwittingly sell a goldfish to a 14-year-old boy taking part in a trading standards 'sting'.

At most, pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, expected a slap on the wrist for breaking new animal welfare laws which ban the sale of pets to under-16s.

Instead, the great-grandmother was taken to court, fined £1,000, placed under curfew - and ordered to wear an electronic tag for two months.

The punishment is normally handed out to violent thugs and repeat offenders.
The prosecution of Mrs Higgins and her son Mark is estimated to have cost taxpayers £20,000 and has left her with a criminal record.

Mark, 47, was also fined and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Last night, as an MP criticised the magistrates, Mrs Higgins - who has run the pet shop for 28 years - said the family's eight-month ordeal had left them traumatised.

She added: 'It's ridiculous. I mean, what danger am I that I have to wear an electronic tag? These last few months have been a very stressful time.'

The seven-week curfew imposed by the court means she is unable to babysit her great-grandson at his home or go to bingo sessions with her sister, and will be unable to attend a Rod Stewart concert after tickets were bought for her by her nephew, actor Will Mellor.

Read More...

ObamaCare: Chasing after fool's gold

2010-03-23T12:19:00.020-04:00

A CNN poll before the health care vote in congress showed an overwhelming 59% of the public oppose ObamaCare. With a long history of liberal news media over sampling Democrats, I won't be surprised that the true number is about 5-8 per cent higher than reported. Regardless, there's a significant number of Americans who think ObamaCare is bad for the USA. Why do Democrat politicians vote to approve it anyway despite the public outrage and the fact they they know they will probably be decimated at the polls in November?

To the politicians that voted YES, it is larger than their political office. It's about chasing after the Democrat's socialist utopia or fool's gold–a perfect society where everyone is equal except the government officials. It's about party power and reprogramming the American people to think and accept "free" entitlements. Politicians love the cradle to grave entitlements because it's like a carrot they can dangle in front of gullible voters who will vote the politicians back in office by offering to protect their entitlements. It's also about slowly defunding the military when the government will take money from military programs to fund social programs as in Europe where the USA spends a lot of money for their defense needs. It's about the redistribution of wealth and blaming the rich and large corporations for all the nation's ills.

It's one thing if government runs the programs it creates or mandates effectively. The big problem is almost everything the government runs and sticks its finger in – social security, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, VA, education, US post office, Amtrak–are failures or near death or in deep trouble. And let's not forget the government's role in creating the environment (1997 Community Reinvestment Act) that ultimately led to the 2008 financial collapse. Yet, all you hear about is greedy bankers and speculators. It's never the government's fault. I digress.

Obamacare will be a historic colossal mistake. The world is full of examples why socialized medicine does not work. Yet, our so-called leaders are so insistent that it will be different and will work for the United States. I come from a country where private medical facilities are popping up left and right because people do not like the poor quality government run hospitals and the long lines for medical services. Even the Canadian Newfoundland and Larador Premier knew better by going to the USA for medical treatment.

There are so many flaws in ObamaCare that I don't know where to start. To begin with we have about 300 million people who are satisfied with their medical insurance. Politicians love to throw the over 46 million number of people who have no medical insurance based on the US Census statistics. If you look closely at the census statistics used to derive the 46 million uninsured, only 9.7 million are citizens of the USA. Deduct the number of people who can afford to buy insurance but chose not to or people who qualify for medicaid and SCHIP but never bordered to apply for it, the number of truly uninsured is much lower than the 9.7 million figure. And let's not forget that it is against the law for hospitals to deny treatment to patients who show up at the emergency rooms. For discussion, let's assume that there are 10 million uninsured. Instead of trying to find a solution for the 10 million people without insurance, the politicians have gone overboard by fixing insurance for everyone and wasting time in more important issues such as the economy and helping the private sector create jobs.

I don't think anybody is arguing there isn't a problem in American health care. However, it has not reached the crisis level the Democrats claim it to be. It is a manufactured crisis.

There are many common-sense solutions that can be implemented to fix the health care problem. For starters, we could have found a way to cover catastrophic health insurance for the relatively few uninsured. It certainly would be cheaper and easier to implement than the 2010 healthcare law that calls for a complete overhaul. This point alone shows the Democrats are not being level with us about the true intention of jamming ObamaCare down our throats. Other solutions include allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines, preventing frivolous lawsuits that drive up costs, allowing individuals, trade associations and small businesses to pool together to get insurance at lower price, giving the same tax breaks to those who don’t get insurance from employers and expanding and creating bigger incentives for HSAs. All you hear about is the 46 million uninsured figures, isolated sob stories, and the evil insurance companies. Truth be told, if we confiscate the meager two percent insurance profits from all medical insurance companies, it will only cover the American's health insurance needs for two days. It's also interesting why we never hear from Democrat politicians about tort reform or about the evil attorneys who pocket most of the money from lawsuits. This issue alone has caused a dramatic jump in insurance premiums. Don't believe me? Just ask a doctor how much he or she is paying to cover malpractice insurance.

I'm going to touch on just a couple of the flaws I see with the new 2010 health care legislation. Google the topic and read up on the topic. There are also web sites touting the goodness of the programs and web sites against ObamaCare. Read both pro and cons and then decide for yourself. I have studied both POVs and concluded it isn't for me and is bad for the country.

1. Ban on denying pre-existing condition. A key feature of Obamacare mandates insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions. Who doesn't like it? However, politicians with their infinite wisdom do not think of the unintended consequences. Why do people buy insurance in the first place? Think of your homeowner's insurance. You buy insurance to cover catastrophic damage to your house right? You do not buy insurance after your house burns down. You do not buy insurance to cover minor plumbing or other minor problems. You handle the minor problems yourself. Won't it be great if you don't have to buy insurance until your house burns down (pre-existing condition)? Likewise, you buy auto insurance mainly for major accidents not for the tire wear and tear. Now imagine if the insurance company is forced to cover plumbing, tire wear and tear problems. What do you think it will do to the insurance premiums? There are too many people who don't even know the true purpose of insurance and many people think that they buy medical insurance to pay for their day-to-day medical coverage including catastrophic health crisis. Health insurance is never designed to guarantee people good health because no insurance companies can make a profit guaranteeing people good health. Unfortunately, today health insurance has evolved into health coverage where people expect or demand day-to-day medical coverage.

The government mandate to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions will result in healthy people not buying insurance thus saving a substantial premium costs. People know that if they were to become seriously sick, they can get immediate medical insurance coverage. Think about this for a minute. If you run an insurance company, you won't be getting a lot of premiums from healthy people but you are paying an arm and a leg to pay out to seriously sick people. How long can you stay in business without increasing premiums? Democrat politicians realize this loophole and created a penalty for people not carrying insurance. But the penalty is a lot lower than having to carry insurance. For example, the average cost of a single person medical insurance is about $4,800. An individual who earns $50,000 would face a fine of $750. Would you rather pay a fine of $750 or pay the $4,800 in insurance premium? The $4,800 is a figure used for employers subsidized insurance. The difference between the IRS penalty and non-subsidized private medical insurance is even higher. Depending on the deductible and family size, the annual insurance premium can run between $8,000 to $20,000 for a family of four. So for many people, they would be fools to buy insurance now. I bet this flaw is by design to drive out private insurance companies so government can come in later to "fix" the problem and impose universal health care and be the sole insurer. If that's the case, we are all in deep shit.

2. The high cost. ObamaCare comes at the worst times when we are already in a deep financial crisis. The new health care bill is projected to add another trillion in new federal spending. Coupled with $46 trillion of unfunded Social Security and Medicare entitlements, and other TARP obligations, it will be a disaster for our current and future generations. The government CBO says there will be billions in savings in the new plan. Rubbish. The CBO scored the program based on rosy Democrat assumptions which will never materialize.

The health care overhaul robs $52 billion from Social Security (government-run) that is already in trouble and run like a pyramid scheme. It also cuts about $500 billion from Medicare and another government-run program in trouble. It also does not count the hundreds of billions required to pay doctors who treat elderly patients.

The plan will add millions of people to Medicaid, a failing program that many pharmacists and doctors are refusing to participate in. Mayo Clinic and now Walgreen have decided to pull out of Medicaid because it is unprofitable. My friend who is an eye surgeon told me that her Medicaid payment will be cut by 20% and she may be forced to not accept Medicaid patients as it is too costly. It's the same story told by my relative who is a dermatologist. What good is Medicaid if private doctors won't treat them or pharmacist won't fill their prescriptions. This is yet another unintended consequences in the making. If the government keeps on slashing payments to providers the end result will not be pretty as providers exit the market thereby making the situation worst than before and it will also stifle innovation.

3. Increase insurance premium costs. Obama claims that the average insurance premium will will be lowered by $2,500 with the new health care bill. This saving will only happen if you believe the tooth fairy is real. How is it possible when the government mandates a ban on insurance companies from denying insurance due to preexisting conditions and not to mention the other mandates including...mental health and substance disorder coverage, psychological treatment, preventive and wellness service, chronic disease treatment, oral and vision care, etc. The list goes on and on. Make no mistake, insurance rates will sky rocket.

4. Loss of American jobs. Politicians, especially the Democrat species, love to bash big corporations for moving jobs overseas. Yet, they are the ones that come up with stupid legislations like ObamaCare that hasten the movement of jobs overseas. As explained earlier, Caterpillar estimated that it will cost the company about $100 million a year to implement ObamaCare. ATT will face one billion dollars in additional expenses. Other large companies such as Metronic, Verizon, and John Deere are saying the same thing. Metronic has even gone a step further by saying that they may have to cut 1,000 people or more because of ObamaCare. The economy is already in a bad shape and to add ObamaCare on top of it will be a disaster for the American economy. What do you think companies will do to lower their cost? This is clearly another sad example of unintended consequences.

Note to Republican politicians. If you think you are sitting pretty now because people hate ObamaCare and people will automatically vote for you in the next election think again. People are furious at most politicians for getting America in such a bad shape it is today. Unfortunately, you got all the blame in the last election. Had people really studied the issues, they would have found out that Democrats are more to blame for the current mess we are in. But you also had six years to fix health care and other issues facing the nation and you sat on your ass. If, and when you return to power, you owe to the American people the work to fix the mess or the citizens will throw you out too. You came to power in a landslide in 1984 but you got intoxicated with power and money. Let's not forget that! What you promise to do in the future better be real and not just a campaign slogan.

Note to voters. Elections have consequences. If you dislike ObamaCare you have a chance to speak your mind in November by voting the politicians who voted for it out of office. Most citizens will not see the inevitable acceleration in insurance premiums until January 2011. In other words, citizens may not be angry enough to go vote in November 2010. They will be angry after they get their new insurance premium notices in 2011. This timing is by design by crooked politicians. Don't wait until the 2012 election cycle to do something about it. Go vote in November 2010.

If you support ObamaCare, remember one thing. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Socialism works great until you run out of other people's money. Going against ObamaCare doesn't mean people who oppose it do not care about the poor and the sick. We do but there are smarter ways to achieve medical insurance reforms. America is so fortunate to have people who will happily open their wallets to charities to help the less fortunate. As a matter of fact, Americans are #1 in the world when it comes to charity giving. The politicians who claim they care about the poor are usually the ones who are very tight with their own wallets. Google and check for yourself their poor donation records (% of their earnings) to charities. It's OK for them to spend other people's money yet they are unwilling to walk the talk.

Liberals cannot walk the talk

The Big F'ing Deal
V.P. Biden is correct when he whispered to Obama that the new health legislation is a big F'ing deal. Charles Krauthammer astutely pointed this out on Fox News...

With Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we had the NEW DEAL.
With Harry S. Truman, it was the FAIR DEAL.
And today, with Barack Obama, we have the BIG F'ING DEAL.

"You can't make this stuff up in this country." said Krauthammer.

This big f'ing deal will eventually screw us all!

Let me get this straight......we passed a health care plan

written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it,

passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it,

to be signed by a president that also hasn't read it and who smokes,

with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes,

all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a
country that's broke.

What the hell could possibly go wrong?

Walmart

2010-03-22T22:28:00.002-04:00

1 . Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart Every hour of every day.
2.. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.
4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private Employer, and most speak English.
6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.
8. During this same period, 31 supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.
9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 Years ago.
11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur At a Wal-Mart store. (Earth’s population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart.

What's lurking in hotel rooms?

2010-03-19T22:50:00.000-04:00

I usually have a hard time sleeping in a hotel. The loud airconditioner, lousy pillows or bed, smelly room or very old toilet and room decor are some of the things keeping me awake at night. What most people don't think about is how clean the room is particularly the bed sheets, comforters, coffee maker and drinking glasses.

Here's an article excerpt written by an ex-hotel housekeeper that would make you wonder the next time you stay at a hotel. Her advise...

1. Always check the room for bed bugs.
They sound cuter than they are, and if you bring them home with you, it will be an exterminating nightmare. Housekeepers have entire staff meetings dedicated to the silent discovery and treatment of the bed bug; it’s a huge liability for hotels, as we’ve become quite the litigious society.

2. Never, under any circumstances, use the coffee maker provided in the room.
I had a special pen I kept on my cart. I never touched it past the cap. See, this was my condom pen. I would use this pen to peel condoms from the fronts of television sets, the walls, tubs, and yes, from inside the coffee pots.

3. Examine the sheets/towels before use.
The thirty-minutes-per-suite quota is occasionally unrealistic. But it’s finish on time or risk being let go. So if the housekeepers were running behind, they would just pray there weren’t any dirty briefs down by the foot of the bed, and pull the old sheets taut, dusting off the visible hairs, some of which were short and curly.

4. Don’t use the glasses and mugs. At the very least, rinse them in scalding water.
At both the hotels I’ve worked at, the dishwasher was always broken. And I mean always. In fact, at the unnamed hotel, I’d never even been privy to seeing the damn thing. So the rushed housekeepers simply rinse the glassware in the bathroom sink and use a toxic, pink porcelain cleaner for those stubborn juice/coffee/lipstick stains.

Read full article here.
Additional articles and videos: ABC News,

Video 1, Video 2, Video 3,

Laugh! Why you should always tip the hotel maid... Video

2010 US Census

2010-03-14T21:14:00.006-04:00

I'm starting to get reminders about doing my civic duty to complete the upcoming 2010 US Census. I'll do my part by completing the short 10 question form. But if I'm given the long form 28 page "The American Community Survey" I will refuse to complete it other than telling the US Census the number of people at my house. In my opinion, the questions in the long form are overly intrusive and non of the government's business. I also think the questions are unconstitutional.

How did the simple US Constitution Article I Section 2 of the US Constitution which requires a head count of all persons in the USA every 10 years for congressional apportionment end up so convoluted into a massive anti privacy data collection program? The US Constitution does not mention the collection of private data other than a head count. Tell me which part of the constitution gives the government the authority to find out how many bathrooms I have, or how many miles I drive to work every day, how many days I was sick last year, how much my mortgage or rental is, how many TVs and telephones I have, my marital status, heritage, age, sexual preference, political beliefs, fertility of women at my house and take GPS coordinates of my house, etc? Many of the questions are so intrusive that if an employer were to ask these questions, they would be fined. Why is the government able to get away with these questions that they say are illegal for employers to ask?

The US Census has even threatened people with fines of $100 for each unanswered questions up to a maximum of $5,000 fine for failure to complete the US Census forms. Lower courts have affirmed the Census requirements but the courts are silent on the constitutionality of the US Census questions. It has also been reported that the US Census will not fine or drag people through the courts for failure to cooperate. Perhaps they know or fear that their big brother scheme will be undressed by the courts if someone actually challenge them on constitutional grounds.

Reading & Video Links
US Census long form
Checkpointusa
Dave Kopel
Resistnet
World Net Daily

Video
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4

A Chinese Wedding Somewhere in China

2010-03-14T14:56:00.002-04:00

Here's how to have a wedding in style...
A young bride and groom and
8 Lamborghini
4 Ferrari
4 Rolls Royce
6 Bentley
6 Mercedes Benz
20 Audi A8
5 Hummers
6 Jeeps for photographers and videographers
And
A GIANT money tree

Photo credit: Autoclub.mop.com

IRS visits Sacramento carwash chasing after $0.04

2010-03-14T10:59:00.004-04:00

It was every businessperson's nightmare.

Arriving at Harv's Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. "They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending," says Harv's owner, Aaron Zeff.

The really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff's on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was ... 4 cents.

Read more...
Read more 2...

Sarah Palin

2010-03-14T01:04:00.001-05:00

Have you attended a party or gathering where a mere mentioning of Sarah Palin's name draws black clouds, lightning strikes and tornadoes out of the clear blue sky? This is how crazy it gets when even highly educated adults mock her with one-liner zings...

-She's a joke!
-She's dumb!
-She's an idiot!
-Palin has no experience
-She can see Russia from her house
-She's a liar
-She doesn’t even know what newspapers she reads
-Fill in the blank with your own zing.....

It's even more absurd on TV. The so-called unbiased journalists and hollywood types are besides themselves and enjoy talking down Sarah Palin.

It's OK if people perceive her to be as dumb as a door knob. They are entitled to their opinons. But what comes out of their mouths in the next breath is what amazes me. It's a WTF moment when people start touting how much better Obama is. If Palin is an idiot the same logic should apply to Obama. Obama is an idiot too. Here's why?

-Have you heard Obama speak without a teleprompter?
-He believes there are 58 states in the USA!
-He's a liar
-He has less real work experience than Palin
-A fruit doesn't fall far from the tree (google his background and past associations)

Oh ya? How do you explain he's the POTUS? Great question! I'm still scratching my head. Maybe people who bought the "Rolls Royce" but forgot to inspect the rot underneath the car. Lately, I've also noticed a marked decreased in people praising or avoiding the Obama topic at social gatherings. Could it be people are embarrassed with buyers' remorse and now waking up and finding out that the "car" they bought is a scam and not what was advertised?

For the record, I left the 2008 POTUS election ballot blank because I didn't think the three 2008 presidential candidates were good for America.

Zogby Poll

512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points
97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates

Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions
57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)
71.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).

And yet.....
Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes
Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!
Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.
Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we "gave" one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)

Read about the video controversy.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

2010-03-03T23:09:00.001-05:00

I love my Nikon D300 camera. The D300 is an outstanding camera and it takes gorgeous pictures with awesome dynamic range. However, it is also bulky and heavy especially when paired with my Nikkor AF-S DX 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED lens. The total weight of the camera and the lens is over 5 lbs. Add a Macbook Pro, camera and computer accessories my 20lb backpack becomes a chore to carry around when traveling.

I wanted a small point-and-shoot camera that I can carry around in my pocket and capable of taking quality pictures in daylight and in night/low lighting situations. Meet the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. This small camera is HOT and much talked about in camera forums and has a huge following among photographers. I had a difficult time finding the camera in stock (October 2009) and had to pay an arm and a leg to get it. While the pictures are not as good as my Nikon D300, it beats most amateur digital cameras on the market. It has a high-end Leica wide angle 24mm f/2.0 lens with high ISO performance. The 24mm is a big plus and is rare for a consumer digital camera. It even has a video recording mode. Another plus for me is the camera can capture images in RAW format which allows further processing in Apple Aperture 3.0 or Adobe Lightroom. Pictures look great in low light and daylight. However, it lacks the dynamic range in day light pictures. The Lumix LX-3 is also great for taking macro shots. Overall, I give the camera a big thumb's up for picture quality. Click here, and here for examples.

Panasonic DMC-LX3 reviews:
LX3-Photography.com
Amazon.com reviews
DC Resource
Dannychoo.com
Photographyblog.com
Camera Labs
Imaging Resouces
ePhotozine

Breville ikon Multi-Speed Juice Fountain Juicer BJE510XL

2010-02-26T00:49:00.009-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went shopping for a camera case for my Lumix LX-3 digital camera and ended up with a Breville fruit juicer. LOL. No, I did not find a case for my camera. It's like going to the supermarket to get a gallon of milk but you end up getting a loaf of bread, potato chips, a six-pack, a dozen eggs and a lottery ticket.

The Breville iKon juicer is a beauty and complemented my stainless steel kitchen appliances. It is powerful and has no hesitation in swallowing a whole apple in five seconds flat. It takes fully skinned pineapple slices with ease too. For the first week, I was busy making fruit juices every day. But I have to say that it is a chore to juice fruits. I was also surprised with the low level of juice that can be extracted from "hard" fruits (apples, carrots pineapple, bannana, peaches, plum, cantaloupe). I'll try watermelon next. I suspect it is loaded with juice. My wife used the fruit pulp to make great tasting cakes.

The Breville ikon Multi-Speed Juicer has minimal parts so it is easy to set up and dismantle. However, it is still a chore to juice and clean up. The stainless micromesh filter is especially difficult to clean as it gets clog up with the fruit fibers. It comes with a brush but it is still difficult to wash. I'm afraid this product will end up in my storage room gathering spider webs. It's cheaper and more convenient to buy organic fruit juice at the grocery store. Oh well. Fruit juicing is not for everyone.

Breville Product Features:

900 watt, high-grade 5 speed motor features a built-in electronic smart chip that increases power to the cutting disc under heavy loads. As a result, the ﬁlter extracts more juice and can make an 8 oz (250 ml) glass in just 5 seconds.

The 3" (76mm) feed-tube allows for the easy and efﬁcient processing of whole fruits and vegetables, without pre-cutting, slicing or peeling. It is uniquely positioned directly over the center of the cutting disc for better balance and consistent results.

The 5 speed settings make the ikon Juice Fountain the most versatile juice extractor available. The lower speeds are for softer fruits and leafy green vegetables. The higher speeds maximize extraction from dense foods such as apples and carrots.

More information:

Reviews:

Logitech S315i Multimedia Speaker System

2010-02-23T22:38:00.002-05:00

I always wanted to own an external iPod external speaker for my Apple iPhone 3G. I took advantage of a $20 rebate offer a couple of days ago and bought the Logitech S315i multimedia speaker for $79.99 before rebate. Not a bad deal. I was a bit apprehensive because I'm not a believer that good music can be played through tiny speakers. Today, I got the unit and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it actually sounded. It's great for casual music listening in your office or as you lay in your sofa or bed reading a book. If you enjoy loud rock, hip hop rap and heavy metal bass shattering music this unit is probably not for you. It does not play deep bass. It's by no means play music like a high end speaker system like the Paradigm speakers I use at home but for its size, I am happy with the purchase. Eventually, I'll hand this speaker to my son so he can use it with his iTouch. I'll buy what I'm aimming for when the price is right...the Yamaha TSX-130BL.

Read the Logitech S315i reviews at Amazon.com | iLounge.com review

Yamaha TSX-130BL

Specifications: Buy.com | Yamaha

Reviews: Alatest.com | whathifi.com | Amazon.com

Airport Security

2010-02-23T21:41:00.002-05:00

Have you dropped off or picked up a passenger at the airport since 9/11? Wait "too long" and you get an impatient airport security officer blowing the whistle or worst still firing off a loud police car siren! What is wrong with these people?

I understand the need to be vigilant after 9/11. But what makes these TSA security people think that the bad guys are going to park and wait at the airport for 5-10 minutes before they do harm. A dumb terrorist waiting to be rewarded with his 72 virgins will tell you that they can do harm as soon as they stop by the arrival and departure gates and pull the pin. There's no need to wait one, two, three or five minutes.

It's one thing to clear the traffic but please do not insult my intelligence by telling me it makes it safer for all passengers.

The other day I was at the Orlando airport and there was one airport security officer walking up and down the passenger arrival terminal/gate area. I estimate the curb side to be at least 2,000-3,000 feet long. There he was in the distance blowing his whistle and chasing and warning drivers they had to leave. He was also helping passengers with directions thereby being distracted from his duties. So much for airport security. It could be an accomplice trying to distract his attention while his cousin who hates western infidels is trying to do nasty tricks to innocent travelers. In the mean time, back to him were people dropping off passengers or camping out waiting for passengers. To get back to the starting point at the other end would have taken him at least 10-15 minutes walking time. What does that tell you? Are they doing this just because they can or are they doing what the TSA mucky mucks tell them to do and they are going through the motion to make us feel safer?

Find the Best Airline Fare, Hotel & Cruise Deals

2010-02-22T12:00:00.005-05:00

Remember the time when making travel arrangement was a chore? You have to call a travel agent to search for ticket pricing and travel options. You are also at the mercy of the travel agent. If you are lucky, you'll get a nice travel agent who is willing to search the best deals and travel options for you. Get a travel agent who woke up on the wrong side of the bed and you'll get lousy service. Pain no more. Thank you Al Gore for inventing the internet. Today your travel agent works 24-7 and she resides in your computer. You get to choose your travel options, find the best deals, book a ticket all within minutes without having to deal with travel agents with bad attitudes. No wonder many travel agencies have downsized or shut down.

I typically use three web sites to search for the best airfares, hotel or cruise deals.

1. Sidestep.com
This is the first online travel search engine web site I use. It's excellent for domestic and international airfares. Sidestep searches over 200 major airline and travel booking online sites. It also allows you the option of compare pricing from Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire, and Priceline.

2. Farecast.com
Farecast.com is also an excellent web site. I have been using it since it started in 2003. Farecast was bought by Microsoft in 2008 and it is now integrated into Microsoft's Bing.com search engine. With Microsoft's endless money pit, this web site is destined to be the #1 travel booking web site. I love Farecast because it is able to predict and forecast airfares or rates by using its proprietary airfare and hotel data it process every day. When you find an airfare, it tells you whether to "buy Now. Fares will rise" or "Wait. Fares will drop." For hotels, the Rate Indiator shows you whether the rate for the hotel is a deal by comparing the hotel's historical rates to current rates. The slider bar options to narrow your options (such as time of departure or arrival) is better than sidestep.com.

3. Farecompare.com
If you're still not happy with the search results from sidestep and farecast, try farecompare.com. Like the two sites above, it also searches multiple web sites including the major booking sites such as Priceline.com, travelocity and Orbitz. It also searches tripadvisor and travelzoo.com. I also like the site's airfare listings when you click on the departing and returning dates calendar. A window pops up showing the airfare on different dates graphically. This is useful as it shows you the price options on different travel dates. For example, the calendar may show a lower airfare for a Tuesday departure and a higher airfare for a Friday travel date. If you can afford to travel in style, try its unique discounted first and business class fare search feature.

Online booking resources
BiddingforTravel - Priceline bidding tips on priceline.com
Seatguru.com - Find out the best and worst seats on major airlines and aircraft
JohnnyJet - Toll-free numbers for all airlines
Tripadvisor - Best independent hotel reviews and booking web site

My Favorite Bargain Shopping Web Sites | Search Engines

2010-02-21T23:46:00.003-05:00

The internet can be the best thing since slice bread but it can also be a curse by creating a big hole in your wallet. You'll be more prone to buy things you don't really need because the deals may be too good to pass up. It is a paradigm shift when it comes to shopping as you let your fingers do the walking. It's a big time saver as you no longer have to call or visit stores for pricing or be pressured by sales people to buy stuff.

I do not buy everything on the the internet. You have to use some common sense especially when dealing with big ticket items. For example, I do not typically buy big items like a washing machine that I cannot easily return to the store or things I have to evaluate in person like a diamond ring. Even if you don't buy big items on the internet you should use it to seach for pricing information or deals so you can make a more intelligent decision at the brick and mortar store.

When I shop on the web, I typically seach to the ends of the world for the best deals. Thanks to the web, searching to the ends of the world only takes minutes. When shopping for deals, I use the following six web sites for product and pricing research.

1. Fatwallet.com
This is one of the web sites I check before buying anything. You'll find anything under the sun: Books, Movies, Music, Clothing, Computers, Electronics, Flowers, Grocery, Restaurants, software, Travel, Automtive, video games, and even grocery. I search the forums for the best deals and for coupons or promotional discount codes for use at the vendor's store.

Tip: Sign up as a fatwallet member. When you sign in and shop using the vendor links listed on fatwallet.com you get additional cash-back from 1%-10% depending on the vendor. I have saved about a $1,000 using this feature. Vendors offering discounts include HP, Newegg.com, Best Buy, Lenovo, Dell, Ebay, Sony, Buy.com, Circuit City, Orbitz, Bloomingdales, Hotwire, hotels.com, priceline.com, 1-800-Flowers.com, American Express, HSBC, Sports Authority, Tirerack.com, Car parts.com, Sears, Amazon.com, and Vitamin shoppe.com

2. Cheapstingybargains.com
I don't know about you but the web site's name is talking to me and calling me a "cheap stingy bastard". Yes, I'm a cheap stingy guy; and I'm a big fan of this web site. This is the web site that I discovered the Sam's Club ZT Systems computer deal. The web site is a bit better organized than Fatwallet.com. However, it does not offer a cash back incentive to users. If you find a deal, go to fatwallet.com and search from there as well. Use the cash-back link to save money (if you are a member).

3. Ben's Bargain
Ben's Bargain is also another great web site to visit when shopping. Be sure to click on the "Most Click", "Most Discussed", and "Most Viewed" categories in the "Popular Post" section to follow the crowd who have already beaten a path for you to the best products on sale on the web.

4. Techbargains.com and Dealmac.com
I combined these two web sites as they focus more on the best deals on electronics and computer related products. Techbargins.com is excellent if you are seaching for Microsoft Windows related products and dealmac.com is geared more to the Apple Mac labtops and computers and other Mac products such as iPods and Mac software.

5. Streetprices.com
I like Streetprices.com because it not only does a good job in seaching the best product prices but it provides a graph showing the product historical pricing over time. You are also able to create a price alert that will inform you when the desired product price has been reached.

6. Google Shopping
Google shopping provides a baseline for product pricing. However, I do not find it reliable. It is vendor input dependent and some what difficult to search. Try seaching for an item and sort it from the lowest to the highest price. You'll see what I mean. The results include a bunch of unrelated items.

$225 for a new 55" Sony Bravia 1080P HDTV KDL-55EX500

2010-02-19T23:57:00.003-05:00

I was watching TV on my three year old 50" Sony SXRD 1080i HDTV (KDS-R50XBR1) one night and I wondered why everyone looked like Martians. The people had greenish skin and the sky looked greenish when it should be blue. My wife said she did not see anything different. With years of experience in the graphic design field where I had to deal with color issues all the time I know what the correct colors of familair things should be. I tried all the TV adjustments with no luck.

Googling for answers, I discovered there were a number of lawsuits on several Sony SXRD TVs. Sony settled the lawsuits but the deadline to file a claim for compensation from Sony was June 30, 2009. WHAT? How come I only found out now? It turns out that the problem will only show up after the TV is turned on for a certain number of hours. Since I don't watch TV very often, it took three years for the problem to show up. But the deadline had passed! I was really mad because I spent almost $4,000 on the 50" HDTV.

After a sleepless night, I calmly called Sony the next morning and explained the greenish tint problem and they immediately recognised the problem and offered me a $925 coupon to be used on the sonystyle.com web site. While not a fantastic deal considering the amount of money I paid for my bad TV, it is nevertheless some compensation on Sony's part for acknowledging the problem. They could have said "tough luck"; the warranty and claim dealine were over.

At the time the offer was made, it looked like a decent deal as Sony was heavily slashing prices on their 2009 HDTV models so they can be replaced with the new 2010 models. I took the offer and mailed to SONY my TV serial sticker. As I waited for my coupon to be processed and emailed to me I watched in disbelieve as the discounted models dwindled to "out-of-stock" status. The only options left were models I was not interested in and the 2010 models which made the coupon not attractive. To make matters worst, I found out other people with similar problems were offered either a free Sony KDL-46EX500 or the Sony Bravia 1080P HDTV KDL-55EX500 for $225 + tax and free shipping. I called Sony again and told them about my lousy offer. Long story short, I was able to get the new offer. Wow. What a deal. A brand new 55EX500 costs $1,900 so it's a no brainer to pay the $225 for a new TV. And I looked like a champ with my wife. I should get my new TV in about a week's time.

55" BRAVIA EX500

WAIT! That's not the end of the story. This morning I receivded an email with a $925 coupon to be used on the the sonystyle.com web site. Looks like they forgot to cancel my $925 coupon. Hmmm. What should I buy now? A Sony Playstation 3 or another big screen TV for my toilet? I can shit and watch TV at the same time.

Slice of Life

2010-02-18T22:35:00.004-05:00

I had nothing to do last night so I watched one of my favorite movies, "Back to School." One of my favorite scene is when Mr. Thornton Melon (Rodney Dangerfield) attended an economics class and demonstrated a thing or two to the economics professor (watch the movie clip above). Although it is just a crazy hollywood comedy movie, there are teachable moments. It demonstrates what is going on in our government today. The retards in Washington DC are all college professors who know it all and they think they know what is best for the little hardworking peons like us. They legislate and pass regulations without realizing the unintended consequences. Look at our leaders today. I dare say most politicians have little or no real world experience running a real business or know how it works. Politicians assume that they can continue to expand the economic pie by soaking the "rich" with taxes and choking businesses with rules, regulations and union handcuffs. Like in the movie, they have no clue where the pie is coming from. No wonder businesses are moving overseas. God save America from the DC tire retreads. Enough Said.

Fantom GreenDrive Pro 2TB eSATA and USB 2.0 7200RPM 32MB GDP2000EU

2010-02-14T14:36:00.010-05:00

Do you remember the format war to be the successor of the DVD format? When the smoke cleared, Sony's Blu-Ray technology came out on top but DVDs are still prominent today. Heck, I mainly buy DVDs due to the high cost of blu-ray movies. My lack of interest is also because of the media storage size it requires to rip / back up my blu-ray movies for home theater applications. Backing up blu-ray movies on a rewritable blu-ray disk is not only time consuming but it can be expensive. At today's blank blu-ray disk pricing it is cheaper to buy a blu-ray movie and faster to back it up on a hard drive. Take for instance the two terabyte Fantom Green Drive. It has ample media space for roughly 80 blu-ray movies. At approximately $6 per blank blu-ray disk, it would cost about $480 to back up 80 blu-ray movies. You probably can buy cheaper generic but slow write blu-ray disks but you may also end up owning expensive coasters.

I bought the 2 TB Fandom Green Drive from newgg.com for a total of $139.99 after a $20.00 rebate.

Product Summary
Manufacturer: Micronet
Mfg Part#: GDP2000EU
UPC: 0074965613642

The GreenDrive line of external USB and eSATA disk drives is a great storage solution for protecting all your photos, music, videos, and documents in one safe, convenient place.feature the latest advances in power saving technology and ROHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) compliant materials and process. The GreenDrive gives the consumer the ability to minimize his or her carbon footprint without sacrificing performance. Fantom Drives GreenDrive USB 2.0 Hard Drives are a power conscious step forward to provide maximum capacity and performance while reducing power consumption by up to 40%. The GreenDrive USB 2.0 Hard Drive family feature sturdy aluminum casing to provide maximum durability, fan-free design for silent operation, and could be placed horizontally or stand vertically to allow maximum deskspace. Fantom Drives GreenDrives yield average drive power savings of 4-5 watts over competitors' drives while maintaining solid performance. That power savings equates to reducing CO2 emission by up to 60 kilograms per drive per year - the equivalent of taking your car off the road for 14 days each year.

Tech Specs
Type: External Hard Disk
Power Supply: 110/220 V (Universal Power Supply) w/ on/off switch
Form Factor: External Unit
Drive RPM: 7200rpm
Buffer: 32MB Cache
Host Interface: eSATA\USB 2.0
Capacity: 2TB
Bus Transfer Rate (Maximum): (USB) 480Mb/s , (eSATA) 1.5Gb/s
OS Support: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS 10.2 or greater
Package Contents: GreenDrive eSATA\USB 2.0 Hard Drive, USB 2.0 Cable, Power Cord, User Manual
Warranty Terms: 2-year limited
Product Dimensions: 7.75" x 4.5" x 1.375"
Product Weight: 2.4 lbs

GDP2000EU Reviews / Opinions

Newegg.com

ZT Affinity 7282Xa Computer

2010-02-14T13:21:00.003-05:00

My wife hates me for buying stuff. She says I won't be happy until I get five of everything. May be she's right.

I was eyeing on a good deal for a Dell refurbished computer Studio computer to replace my aging home theather computer. Sometimes Dell offers good deals in the refurbished department especially if you get a discount coupon making the computer even cheaper. However, I bought a refurbished Dell XPS M1330 laptop for my son and it lasted only one year. To add insult to injury, my laptop died 15 days after the warranty expired! I wasn't too happy with the cheaply build Dell XPS to begin with and the laptop going bad after one year made me rethink about getting another Dell computer.

One day I was checking my email and saw a too good to ignore computer deal from the Sam's Club. Tired of waiting for a refurbish coupon from Dell, I jumped on the Sam's club deal. The ZT Affinity 7282Xa
computer is a well equipped computer for HDTV home theater (HTPC) and dvd/blu-ray movie backup applications (Slysoft.com Anydvd HD, and cloneDVD).

There's few computers out there that can match the configuration and pricing of the computer. The list price was $798 - $100 discount = $698. Wow what a deal! And ZT computer offers a two year warranty which is much better than the typical one year warranty you get with most other manufacturers. Use an American Express card and you automatically get another year's of extended warranty. I don't have to tell you that three years is a long time in computer years. After three years I probably need a new computer to live up to my wife's "five of everything" label.

About the part number: I think the ZT Affinity 7282Xa is a Sam's Club configuration. Costco is also selling ZT Systems computers but with different part numbers. Check out the manufacturer's web site for more details.

ZT 7282Xa Computer Description
The ZT Affinity 7282Xa Desktop from ZT Systems enables advanced home computing, with a powerful AMD Phenom™ II X4 Quad-Core Processor 945 providing outstanding performance for demanding tasks like managing and manipulating digital images, audio and video. Industry-leading support and maximum multimedia capabilities make this system an ideal choice for the PC power user.
AMD Phenom™ II X4 Quad-Core Processor

The AMD Phenom™ II X4 processor is designed for high definition entertainment, gaming, creativity, and beyond. With the AMD Phenom™ II processor as the foundation, you’ll enjoy a new level of responsiveness and visual intensity. Your games, photos, videos, and home movies will look better than you could have imagined. ZT Systems PCs powered by AMD Phenom™ II X4 processors put high definition computing within everyone’s reach.

Windows® 7 Home Premium - The best entertainment experience
Windows® 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. Access your recently used files with just two clicks, stream music files on any network-connected device, find virtually anything on your PC – from documents and photos to e-mails. Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Processor and Memory:
AMD Phenom™ II X4 945 Quad-Core Processor
3.0GHz
6MB Cache
4000MT/s FSB
AMD® 780V and SB700 Chipset
8GB DDR2 Memory (4 x 2GB), MAX 8GB
Hard Drive and Multimedia Drives:
1.5 TB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
22X DVD+/-RW
Audio, Video and Graphics:
Discrete RADEON HD4650 1G DDR2 Video Card with HDMI/DVI output
Integrated Radeon HD 3100 Graphic with DVI
8-channel audio with jack sensing
Connectivity:
Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbs/sec) LAN
Ports/Slots:
Front Panel 19 in 1 Card Reader
Expansion Bays: (2) 5.25” Exposed (one occupied), (2) 3.5” Exposed (one occupied), (4) 3.5 Hidden (one occupied)
Ports: (6) USB 2.0 port, (2) PS/2 connectors, (1) VGA port, (1) 6-in-1 Audio, (1) DVI, (1) LAN (RJ45) port
Expansion Slots: (1) PCI-E 16x slot, (1) PCI-E 1x slot, (2) PCI slots
Keyboard, Mouse and Monitor:
ZT 104 Key Desktop Keyboard & Optical Mouse
ZT 2pcs Premium Speakers
Power:
ATX 12V 300W
Operating System:
Genuine Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium
Dimensions and Weight:
Dimensions: 14.25”(H) x 7.2” (W) x 16.5” (D) (approx.)
Weight: 25 lbs.
Form Factor: Mid-Towr
Cooling: 90mm Cooling Fan
Warranty: Two year parts and labor warranty from date of purchase