January, 2013 archive
Break Time 0
Off to drink liberally.
Faceook Frolics 0
So when Haralson, 47, logged into her Facebook account one day, she was surprised by an unwelcome inbox message: a request to call “Mr. Rice” about her debt.
“It’s not like they needed to go on Facebook to find me,” Haralson said. “I was in contact with them all the time. That crossed the line.”
The government is considering regulating this sort of thing.
I’m all for it.
I used to get phone calls for the person who used to have my phone number. I don’t know anything about the previous possessor of that number except that she apparently owed a lot of people a lot of money. It reached the point that we just let all calls go right to the answering machine.
One outfit called four or five times a day, every day. When I tried to call them back, their automated “response” system made Verizon, whose customer service phone system is designed to keep callers from talking to real live human beings, look like a model of customer friendliness.
I finally made them go away by writing them a letter and copying my elected representative incongruously assembled.
Twits on Twitter 0
Apparently, he thought this was funny. Others were not amused.
And, in other news of the twits . . .
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Dick Polman hands out the “Well-Regulated Militia Awards.” A sample:
In related news, Maine man gets time for stealing courtesy:
Frankly, I’m mildly surprised the gunnuttery was not analyzed by Krafft-Ebing.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
A little bit better and looking more like a trend.
(snip)
The number of people who continue to collect jobless benefits fell by 71,000 to 3.16 million in the week ended Jan. 12, the fewest since July 2008. The continuing claims figure does not include workers receiving extended benefits from the federal government.
Extended BenefitsThose who’ve exhausted their traditional benefits and now are collecting emergency and extended payments decreased by 365,600 to 1.69 million in the week ended Jan. 5. These figures may also be distorted because of the holidays, the Labor Department spokesman said.
Only in It for the Money 0
This is stupid. And predatory.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court in Mount Holly, may be the first legal filing aimed at the sandwich shops after an embarrassment went viral last week when someone posted a photo of a footlong and a ruler on the company’s Facebook page to show that the sandwich was not as long as advertised.
It’s like suing Hertz because they don’t levitate you into the driver’s seat.
In other news of the predatory, but not Facebook-related and not quite as stupid, there’s this. . . . .
The Wedding Industrial Complex 0
Psychology Today blogger Laurie Essig attends a “Bridal Expo.”
While there, she interviews couples to find out why they are willing to spend more than they have for a few hours on a single day.
Check it out; see whether you can find any rationality in the reasons.
I couldn’t.
Afterthought:
I once knew a fellow, a construction worker type of guy, who cashed in his retirement to pay for his daughter’s wedding. Words fail me.
Cartoons on Fox 0
Jon Stewart lampoons our lightweight media, simultaneously contrasting Fox News’s cartoon Obama with the real man through masterful juxtaposition.
Via TPM.
Both Sides Not 0
In a column about the promise of President Obama’s second term, Leonard Pitts, Jr., almost as an aside, skewers those who think President Obama must be more conciliatory.
The “both sides do it” “Obama is too partisan” crowd are nothing more than apologists for the Republican Party, fog machines obscuring the reality of Republican obstruction.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Guns fuel the drive for courtesy.
The road-rage incident began about 7:30 a.m. near 91st Street and Metcalf Avenue, police Capt. Todd Chappell said.
“It’s Not the Powerless Who Corrupt Democracy . . . .” 0
Thom explains the engine of corruption.
Yippee Tyson on! 0
Did Nick Carter foresee modern agriculture?
Who destroyed the fractious factory farm?
Was Frank Perdue peeping around that corner?
Who conned Agra?
And what exactly is a “Monsanto,” anyway?
Find out now!
Listen to the Case of the Chemical Chickens (mp3) now!