I sat and downloaded Argo yesterday. It's a two-hour movie. I have to say that it's probably on my list of thirty movies that you ought to watch in your life. It is that good. It does make the Iranians look like idiots, I admit that. So if you have the time....watch it.
Congress (well, the Republicans)....stood up and hinted to the President that his 100-city tour that is being planned out....is taking a chunk of government money to fund. They'd like for him to downsize. The President hasn't responded yet....but I'm guessing that he intends to double his tour now....just to prove a point that funding traveling tours doesn't make a difference.
Yeah, that story of the 13-year-old girl stabbing another 13-year-old (boy) over a bag of potato chips....is absolutely true. It was from California and the young lady says that she was mostly kidding, and is a bit sorry. Cops won't say much except they did arrest her, and charges have yet to be filed. My humble guess is that she will one day marry this boy....and shoot him accidentally one night. Just kidding.
VP Joe Biden says "Americans are tired of being tired". This was referring to gun control, immigration reform, tax reform, etc. From the heartland, if you dragged ten guys out of a barbershop.....they'd all say that folks in DC are hyped up on drugs, booze or in a schizophrenic state of mind. VP Joe? Yeah, they'd probably say the same thing over him. Tired? Yeah, they are just tired of fake journalist taking reports and just blabbing on some emergency that no one really takes serious anymore.
C. Everett Koop has finally passed on....at 86. He was the Surgeon General under Reagan and Bush. He'd appear almost weekly on TV and dispensed advice left and right. Pretty smart guy.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Monday, 10 December 2012
That Brew Problem
Some smart finance folks went out and analyzed the beer market....discovering that there are roughly nine brands of beer in serious trouble from declining sales.
At the very bottom? Michelob. Even Old Milwaukee fell into the bottom five (in serious trouble).
The issue is that folks got around in the last decade...to drinking small brewery products, and finding a better taste. They lost interest in lousy beer.
What's Michelob to do? It's hard to say. You can't just hustle up and change your product overnight. And if you did change it....who is to say that you might upset the several hundred thousand folks who still consume it on occasion? You might lose more than gain on the deal.
The other curious thing that could be affecting sales is that import beers are catching on. A guy will sit at some pub, and accidentally try some Dutch beer, and suddenly find himself enjoying a better taste. Course, he's paying fifty percent more for the beer than he'd usually spend.
If I were going to take an educated guess on business operations here...I'd say that Michelob is likely to be bought out by someone in the next three years....at a low-end price. They will shut down operations for a month, and do up a new formula for the brew, and try to stage a come-back. A Chinese company? Yeah, I'd start betting on someone with cash and taking a risk like that.
At the very bottom? Michelob. Even Old Milwaukee fell into the bottom five (in serious trouble).
The issue is that folks got around in the last decade...to drinking small brewery products, and finding a better taste. They lost interest in lousy beer.
What's Michelob to do? It's hard to say. You can't just hustle up and change your product overnight. And if you did change it....who is to say that you might upset the several hundred thousand folks who still consume it on occasion? You might lose more than gain on the deal.
The other curious thing that could be affecting sales is that import beers are catching on. A guy will sit at some pub, and accidentally try some Dutch beer, and suddenly find himself enjoying a better taste. Course, he's paying fifty percent more for the beer than he'd usually spend.
If I were going to take an educated guess on business operations here...I'd say that Michelob is likely to be bought out by someone in the next three years....at a low-end price. They will shut down operations for a month, and do up a new formula for the brew, and try to stage a come-back. A Chinese company? Yeah, I'd start betting on someone with cash and taking a risk like that.
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Just Questions to Contemplate
How many Americans know someone who makes more than $250k a year? And I'm talking about watching Huckabee on Fox, some Mets baseball player on TV, or going down to New Orleans to watch a live WWE wrestling match. How many Americans actually know some guy who makes over $250k a year?
So in the midst of the biggest event since 9-11, with the country on the fiscal cliff....why does the President go to Hawaii for a vacation? This would be like a couple about to engage in a bankruptcy proceeding but going off the week prior to gamble in Las Vegas.
If you had a hurricane coming down the way toward your home....are you actually counting on FEMA to come and help you? Really....just raise your hand if you think that FEMA is going to save you in some fashion.
With all the talk on Syria....can you even identify the country on a map?
If you work around heavy machinery in Colorado....with the new marijuana laws going into effect....are you just a bit worried about your co-workers coming into work doped up?
If you had a kid in the Washington state school system, and the new open sales of marijuana going into effect....would you be kinda worried about teachers coming into school stoned?
In twenty years....will Fox's GLEE be remembered by anyone?
Why would twenty-odd CIA guys all be sitting in a compound in Benghazi....on 9-11?
Do you really care what a bunch of West Virginia teenagers do on camera....for a new MTV series? Would it be any different than a bunch of punk kids from Texas?
When was the last time that you actually bought a music CD?
If the airport TSA dimwits that you all upset as you enter the airport.....were all women....would it change your perception of TSA?
If this teen singer....the Justine Bieber kid....actually sat down next to you at Dairy Queen....would you even recognize him?
Could you actually tell the difference between the $1 a cup of coffee at McDonalds and the $3.25 cup of coffee at Starbucks?
If you had the choice of being dropped off in a rattlesnake infested canyon in Arizona or the middle of Detroit....which would you pick?
If you ran a college and figured out that twenty-five percent of all kids who enter as freshmen will never get beyond the first year.....why wouldn't you try harder to stop them at the front door? If you knew that forty percent of the freshmen will never graduate from your college or any college....would it start to bother you about accepting them?
To be honest, when in the last five years have you had a Twinkie? Or a Ho-Ho?
If your state police announced that they'd just spent $2.5 million on a overhead drone....would you question the wisdom of such a purchase, and would you ask about the maintenance contract attached to this (likely $1.5 a year)?
Would it bother you if you learned that twenty percent of all Republicans....were really Democrats, and that the same number of Democrats....were really Republicans?
Have you kinda noticed your neighbors buying in bulk and putting two or three extra refrigerators or freezers into their garage? Have you ever asked them about the continual review of expiration dates? Yeah, they probably do throw at least a quarter of the bulk purchase food away eventually.
How many folks could actually sit through an entire opera....without falling asleep?
If your new car had an engine seizure, and the Ford mechanic eventually came to you and said it was the 15-percent ethanol mix you used....thus invalidating the warranty action....who would you be most upset with?
When auto blackboxes get finally implemented and mandated in the fall of 2014....how many people will quickly ask how to disconnect it? Thirty percent? Fifty percent? How many computer geeks will be hired to reprogram or disconnect these? Fifty thousand?
If there is no real difference between Microsoft Office 1997 and Office 2010....why would you buy the 2010 version?
If you could buy a $49 round-trip ticket from Nashville to Chicago....for standing only during the flight and leaning against some fixture for sixty minutes....would you buy the ticket?
So in the midst of the biggest event since 9-11, with the country on the fiscal cliff....why does the President go to Hawaii for a vacation? This would be like a couple about to engage in a bankruptcy proceeding but going off the week prior to gamble in Las Vegas.
If you had a hurricane coming down the way toward your home....are you actually counting on FEMA to come and help you? Really....just raise your hand if you think that FEMA is going to save you in some fashion.
With all the talk on Syria....can you even identify the country on a map?
If you work around heavy machinery in Colorado....with the new marijuana laws going into effect....are you just a bit worried about your co-workers coming into work doped up?
If you had a kid in the Washington state school system, and the new open sales of marijuana going into effect....would you be kinda worried about teachers coming into school stoned?
In twenty years....will Fox's GLEE be remembered by anyone?
Why would twenty-odd CIA guys all be sitting in a compound in Benghazi....on 9-11?
Do you really care what a bunch of West Virginia teenagers do on camera....for a new MTV series? Would it be any different than a bunch of punk kids from Texas?
When was the last time that you actually bought a music CD?
If the airport TSA dimwits that you all upset as you enter the airport.....were all women....would it change your perception of TSA?
If this teen singer....the Justine Bieber kid....actually sat down next to you at Dairy Queen....would you even recognize him?
Could you actually tell the difference between the $1 a cup of coffee at McDonalds and the $3.25 cup of coffee at Starbucks?
If you had the choice of being dropped off in a rattlesnake infested canyon in Arizona or the middle of Detroit....which would you pick?
If you ran a college and figured out that twenty-five percent of all kids who enter as freshmen will never get beyond the first year.....why wouldn't you try harder to stop them at the front door? If you knew that forty percent of the freshmen will never graduate from your college or any college....would it start to bother you about accepting them?
To be honest, when in the last five years have you had a Twinkie? Or a Ho-Ho?
If your state police announced that they'd just spent $2.5 million on a overhead drone....would you question the wisdom of such a purchase, and would you ask about the maintenance contract attached to this (likely $1.5 a year)?
Would it bother you if you learned that twenty percent of all Republicans....were really Democrats, and that the same number of Democrats....were really Republicans?
Have you kinda noticed your neighbors buying in bulk and putting two or three extra refrigerators or freezers into their garage? Have you ever asked them about the continual review of expiration dates? Yeah, they probably do throw at least a quarter of the bulk purchase food away eventually.
How many folks could actually sit through an entire opera....without falling asleep?
If your new car had an engine seizure, and the Ford mechanic eventually came to you and said it was the 15-percent ethanol mix you used....thus invalidating the warranty action....who would you be most upset with?
When auto blackboxes get finally implemented and mandated in the fall of 2014....how many people will quickly ask how to disconnect it? Thirty percent? Fifty percent? How many computer geeks will be hired to reprogram or disconnect these? Fifty thousand?
If there is no real difference between Microsoft Office 1997 and Office 2010....why would you buy the 2010 version?
If you could buy a $49 round-trip ticket from Nashville to Chicago....for standing only during the flight and leaning against some fixture for sixty minutes....would you buy the ticket?
Saturday, 8 December 2012
Just Tired of Fairness
I sat and watch some political dimwits chat for ten minutes this morning....and the term "fairness" got thrown around six to eight times. So I finally got tired of hearing it.
“Fairness” doesn’t get a guy to pull a 10PM to 7AM shift at a local factory for $12 an hour.
“Fairness” doesn’t ensure a decent meal at the Catfish Cabin for $9.99.
“Fairness” doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed Ford-certified transmission mechanic when you demand an overnight repair.
“Fairness” doesn’t drive a truckload of tomatoes from Texas to Michigan in the middle of a December snowstorm.
“Fairness” doesn’t clean the restaurant kitchen enough to pass the city health inspector inspection.
“Fairness” doesn’t get you a $20k loan from the local bank when your business heating system failed in the midst of February.
“Fairness” doesn’t guarantee your kid is getting a top-notch math teacher in the sixth grade.
“Fairness” isn’t going to help you when the city has determined a year-long construction project will go by the front of your store and halt half of the profits you enjoyed for a decade.
“Fairness” isn’t helping when a city council member won’t approve your booze license unless there’s some donation to their campaign fund.
“Fairness” doesn’t help when the cops won’t come out to your area of town after dark because there’s too much crime there.
“Fairness” doesn’t sweep up a mess made by a bunch of drunks around the back of your building the night before.
I would even add this....”Fairness” didn’t exist on the 6th of June 1944 on the beaches of Normandy. For anyone who is really obsessed with “Fairness”, maybe it’s time you asked what exactly is meant by the term.
“Fairness” doesn’t get a guy to pull a 10PM to 7AM shift at a local factory for $12 an hour.
“Fairness” doesn’t ensure a decent meal at the Catfish Cabin for $9.99.
“Fairness” doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed Ford-certified transmission mechanic when you demand an overnight repair.
“Fairness” doesn’t drive a truckload of tomatoes from Texas to Michigan in the middle of a December snowstorm.
“Fairness” doesn’t clean the restaurant kitchen enough to pass the city health inspector inspection.
“Fairness” doesn’t get you a $20k loan from the local bank when your business heating system failed in the midst of February.
“Fairness” doesn’t guarantee your kid is getting a top-notch math teacher in the sixth grade.
“Fairness” isn’t going to help you when the city has determined a year-long construction project will go by the front of your store and halt half of the profits you enjoyed for a decade.
“Fairness” isn’t helping when a city council member won’t approve your booze license unless there’s some donation to their campaign fund.
“Fairness” doesn’t help when the cops won’t come out to your area of town after dark because there’s too much crime there.
“Fairness” doesn’t sweep up a mess made by a bunch of drunks around the back of your building the night before.
I would even add this....”Fairness” didn’t exist on the 6th of June 1944 on the beaches of Normandy. For anyone who is really obsessed with “Fairness”, maybe it’s time you asked what exactly is meant by the term.
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Just Some Advice
Sometimes, I hand out advice.
If you intend to go off to college, and want to borrow around $75k to achieve your degree....you better plan on working two jobs upon graduation for the first ten years, and forget about putting any money into a 401k until you turn 45 years old.
If you live down along the Gulf coast....within two miles of the beach....you need to ask yourself if losing your home after a hurricane is worth living that close to the coast.
If you like to drink excessively once or twice a year and drive home....could you afford to pay out $15k in legal costs and court fines if the cops pull over? If you can't afford the $15k.....don't drink and drive.
If you live in a neighborhood where ten percent of the houses are empty because folks went bankrupt....you might want to ask if folks have a spending/saving problem.
If your doctor is hinting pretty strongly that he will limit Medicare patients he handles within the next year and you are around fifty-five.....you might ought to ask some serious questions about the stability of Medicare and how your health will be taken care of when you get up to sixty-five.
If folks around live and breathe NCAA football from early September to late November....you might want to be careful about which you attach yourself to.
If gas gets up to five bucks a gallon....what's the odds of GM, Chrysler or Ford selling big-engine vehicles? The value of your 18-mpg Ford pick-up in such a dramatic moment? Just something you might want to think about.
Finally....if some idiot shows up in front of you at the mall or some gas station and asks if your life is better or worse than it was four years ago.....you might want to sit and ask yourself if it's even better or worse than twenty years ago or even forty years ago. The answer might shock most folks upon reflection. Some folks were happier in 1987, than they are today, and that might confuse the political poll dimwits greatly.
If you intend to go off to college, and want to borrow around $75k to achieve your degree....you better plan on working two jobs upon graduation for the first ten years, and forget about putting any money into a 401k until you turn 45 years old.
If you live down along the Gulf coast....within two miles of the beach....you need to ask yourself if losing your home after a hurricane is worth living that close to the coast.
If you like to drink excessively once or twice a year and drive home....could you afford to pay out $15k in legal costs and court fines if the cops pull over? If you can't afford the $15k.....don't drink and drive.
If you live in a neighborhood where ten percent of the houses are empty because folks went bankrupt....you might want to ask if folks have a spending/saving problem.
If your doctor is hinting pretty strongly that he will limit Medicare patients he handles within the next year and you are around fifty-five.....you might ought to ask some serious questions about the stability of Medicare and how your health will be taken care of when you get up to sixty-five.
If folks around live and breathe NCAA football from early September to late November....you might want to be careful about which you attach yourself to.
If gas gets up to five bucks a gallon....what's the odds of GM, Chrysler or Ford selling big-engine vehicles? The value of your 18-mpg Ford pick-up in such a dramatic moment? Just something you might want to think about.
Finally....if some idiot shows up in front of you at the mall or some gas station and asks if your life is better or worse than it was four years ago.....you might want to sit and ask yourself if it's even better or worse than twenty years ago or even forty years ago. The answer might shock most folks upon reflection. Some folks were happier in 1987, than they are today, and that might confuse the political poll dimwits greatly.
A Good Husband
This is what we know.
Staff Sargent Judy (last name we will leave out) signed up with the Air Force and is stationed down in Shreveport, Louisiana. Staff Sargent Judy does logistics work....mostly supply, accounting, etc. Staff Sargent Judy got orders to go off to some location in the Middle East (unknown where) for a unknown amount of time (I'd be guessing six months, but it might have been twelve months).
Staff Sargent Judy didn't really want to go.....in a bad way. So she talks to her husband....Staff Sargent Chris. We aren't sure who came up with the idea....but Chris eventually got his smaller caliber gun, and shot Judy in some non-vital area of her body. Judy gets to the phone....says an intruder shot her. Cops come. Cops add up everything. Cops just come to disbelieve the intruder thing. Eventually Staff Sargent Judy admits that the husband did a favor and shot her.
Naturally, Bossier City Police aren't amused....so they arrest Staff Sargent Chris. There's a weapons charge that they can hang on Chris, and I'm guessing a local judge would be nice enough to convict him but give him a suspended sentence. Judy? Well....she gave a false report, and faces charges for that. I'm guessing the local Bossier City judge will convict her and give a suspended sentence for that. But then, there's the Air Force folks at the back of the line.
Generally, the Air Force doesn't take this kind of foolishness as mature activity. So I'm guessing a board will convene and discuss both Staff Sargent Judy and Chris. Judy will likely be given a mental exam and pronounced not-fit for duty....and likely tossed out by early January 2013 (my humble guess). It might take a month of mental tests to reach that result, but it's a pretty guaranteed result. Chris? Shooting your wife doesn't earn any medals, and will earn him a board to meet as well. They might be split on letting Chris stay, but I'd be leaning to put enough paperwork into his folder and just not allow him to re-enlist as his contract runs out (it might be two or three years).
The thing is....Chris was an awful nice husband....helping his wife out and cooperating with her wishes. It takes a lot for a guy to pull out a pistol and shoot just precisely at the right location.....and be fairly sure about the results. Most guys would have screwed up and missed, or perhaps hit a vital organ.
I'm guessing folks around Bossier City and Shreveport are discussing the matter. Folks don't get too excited there unless there's a flood or such. And the Air Force? Well....they likely will be wondering if they need to go around the entire Air Force and warn folks not shoot each other to get out of deployments. The safer method....time-tested....would have been for Chris to get Judy pregnant, and that would have kept her off the deployment....but obviously, they just weren't interested in that method.
Staff Sargent Judy (last name we will leave out) signed up with the Air Force and is stationed down in Shreveport, Louisiana. Staff Sargent Judy does logistics work....mostly supply, accounting, etc. Staff Sargent Judy got orders to go off to some location in the Middle East (unknown where) for a unknown amount of time (I'd be guessing six months, but it might have been twelve months).
Staff Sargent Judy didn't really want to go.....in a bad way. So she talks to her husband....Staff Sargent Chris. We aren't sure who came up with the idea....but Chris eventually got his smaller caliber gun, and shot Judy in some non-vital area of her body. Judy gets to the phone....says an intruder shot her. Cops come. Cops add up everything. Cops just come to disbelieve the intruder thing. Eventually Staff Sargent Judy admits that the husband did a favor and shot her.
Naturally, Bossier City Police aren't amused....so they arrest Staff Sargent Chris. There's a weapons charge that they can hang on Chris, and I'm guessing a local judge would be nice enough to convict him but give him a suspended sentence. Judy? Well....she gave a false report, and faces charges for that. I'm guessing the local Bossier City judge will convict her and give a suspended sentence for that. But then, there's the Air Force folks at the back of the line.
Generally, the Air Force doesn't take this kind of foolishness as mature activity. So I'm guessing a board will convene and discuss both Staff Sargent Judy and Chris. Judy will likely be given a mental exam and pronounced not-fit for duty....and likely tossed out by early January 2013 (my humble guess). It might take a month of mental tests to reach that result, but it's a pretty guaranteed result. Chris? Shooting your wife doesn't earn any medals, and will earn him a board to meet as well. They might be split on letting Chris stay, but I'd be leaning to put enough paperwork into his folder and just not allow him to re-enlist as his contract runs out (it might be two or three years).
The thing is....Chris was an awful nice husband....helping his wife out and cooperating with her wishes. It takes a lot for a guy to pull out a pistol and shoot just precisely at the right location.....and be fairly sure about the results. Most guys would have screwed up and missed, or perhaps hit a vital organ.
I'm guessing folks around Bossier City and Shreveport are discussing the matter. Folks don't get too excited there unless there's a flood or such. And the Air Force? Well....they likely will be wondering if they need to go around the entire Air Force and warn folks not shoot each other to get out of deployments. The safer method....time-tested....would have been for Chris to get Judy pregnant, and that would have kept her off the deployment....but obviously, they just weren't interested in that method.
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Iran and World of Warcraft
Somewhere in the midst of arguing with Iran.....the US sent out a message to the World of Warcraft folks. Basically, it's an American game of sorts, and they told the CEO that they had to deny Iranians the right to play World of Warcraft.
You can imagine the State Department sitting around, and talking up all the punishments possible to dump on Iran.....and World of Warcraft comes up.
So we are denying the Iranians a chance to ride their magical ponies, or to buy digital swords, or to fight digital warriors from Austin, Texas, or to sit by digital pools of water with friends from upstate Michigan, or to shoot unicorns.
It's come down to this.....and our best way of handling Iran.....is to deny them World of Warcraft? Something is wrong.....if you ask me.
You can imagine the State Department sitting around, and talking up all the punishments possible to dump on Iran.....and World of Warcraft comes up.
So we are denying the Iranians a chance to ride their magical ponies, or to buy digital swords, or to fight digital warriors from Austin, Texas, or to sit by digital pools of water with friends from upstate Michigan, or to shoot unicorns.
It's come down to this.....and our best way of handling Iran.....is to deny them World of Warcraft? Something is wrong.....if you ask me.
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