Forcing Armageddon

Enough already! From now on, we need to ask some additional questions before people get on a plane, besides the usual "have you bags been in your possession..." like "Would you die for your religion" and "Do you believe in Armageddon". Yes to any would mean "you can walk to your destination". Reading the spews of religious fanatics on all sides is slowly driving me nuts. A fanatic is a fanatic, period. I don't care if you worship God, Jesus, Mohammed or Elvis, true believers are irrational and dangerous people, who need to be kept off public ransportation at a minimum, and locked up at best. Maybe then we could carry water on airplanes again.

Only the Worst News Wins

In the opinion of one home builder, we are in the worst housing slump in 40 years. Think about...40 years. The recession of 82, when no one had a job, when interest rates were still 16%, not as bad as now. Stagflation in the 70's? Nowhere near as bad. This is the long awaited housing slump the media has been pushing for 3 years now. Except, they are wrong. Not quite yet. Now that the Fed has paused, let's see what happens. Oh, I forgot, we can't, we found a source saying death and destruction, that is all we need. Sorry kids, been there, done that, and you are wrong again.

Why Do They Do It?

From time to time I supplement my income, and get health insurance, with work through a contract agency. Last one I worked for, oh hell, it was Optimal Engineering, took extreme pains to falsify my COBRA paperwork. Why in the name of all that is holy would they do that? They backdated a letter that by law they had 30 days to write. They took special pains to mail me a letter on 8/1/06 that informed me if I didn't reply by 7/31/06, they would cancel my insurance. When I called them on it, they said the back date was a typo, and they wouldn't touch my insurance for 60 days. Except, when I went online to BCBS today, I was informed my insurance was canceled. I called, and sure enough, as of 8/1/06, I had no health insurance. It's no biggie in the long run, the insurance will be restored retroactively. But why falsify the letter, and lie to me? They cost themselves an employee, future employees (I'm not referring anyone I know to these twits), and perhaps a client or three. Worse, I am refering this to the Department of Labor and the IRS, since they have, apparently, violated federal law regarding COBRA rules. It seems they are fans of the Garek character in ST:DS9, of whom it was said "Why tell the truth when a lie would work just as well." But you know, lying for the sake of lying is just plain stupid.

I Guess I'm a Political Orphan

It's looking more and more my choices for a party are between a bunch of tax-cutting, free-spending, control-your-life yahoos, and a bunch of "give-us-all-your-money, free-spending, hedonistic yahoos. The Libertarian party has some appeal, but I think their priorities may be a bit messed up, depends on what you read. Any suggestions?

Ananias, Barnabas, and the Right Wing

The biblical story of Ananias and Barnabas, on the face, is simple. Frome each according to ability, to each according to need. Barnabas gave all. Ananias said he gave all, but only gave MOST. Thus, god, oops I mean God, killed Ananias and his wife. Tell me again why conservatives are religious? I mean, this is pretty clear...give all or die. They will say it's about lying and deceit, but the root is THEY DID NOT GIVE ALL!!!! Tell me again why conservatives are religious?

They Just Don't Understand the 1st Amendment

Reporters protecting confidential sources has a long been a basic tenet of journalism. Now some bozo, the ACLU and an assortment of the usual suspects want to extend that to video of a public gathering. Where is the confidential source? Where is an expectation of privacy? And besides, bozo, you published and/or sold huge sections of the video already! All the police want is to look at the raw video to have an unedited look at who put the bomb under the police car, is that so unreasonable?

Screw Bank of America!

OK, it started civil, now it's civil war! What a bunch of bloodsucking leeches live at Bank of America. No, not leeches, they are their initials...BOA! A constricting snake, squeezing the life out of their customers. In answer to the question "So making it impossible to pay this off, and forcing me into bankruptcy, is better than keeping the status quo, where I've never been late and always pay more than the minimum?" the answer was "Are you threatening bankruptcy, sir?" No jerkoff, I'm saying that 23% interest is usury, and robbery, and making it harder to payoff, and putting your money more at risk. Somebody has got to explain the logic here, because my bud is off to see a lawyer tomorrow, the lawyer will always get paid, the bank will always suck hind tit, and all because they double the damn interest rate to "protect themselves", rather than be fat dumb and happy at 11.5%! Talk about Abort To Orbit, either NASA is full of ex-bankers, or the banks are full of ex-NASA people!

Gee, and they wonder why people go bankrupt

Let me get this straight. If a credit card company is afraid that you are a risk, they raise your interest rates to the point where they are borderline usury! Amazing. Think of the logic. You owe us money. We are afraid you are not going to pay the money back. Therefore, we will make it ever HARDER to pay it back. I told my friend to just close his accounts. That freezes the rates where they are. It is not a solution to debt, but it prevents usury.