Enough of this, Enough is enough is enough !

This is an open letter to any and all of our elected representatives in Washington D.C. (and here at home too if it applies).

 

I've listened to President Obama and every other politician from both sides of the aisle tell us countless things since before the election that kind of boils down to these three key points :

• That we (the people) have to sacrifice in this fiscal emergency, in order to fix this mess.
• That we (the politicians) have to do things differently in order to get things done, in order to fix this mess.
• That we (everyone) must approach things in a way that never has been done before in order to see real change, in order to fix this mess.

I am wondering that if all of those statements (or any of them) are true and plausible , then why is it that the answers to the problems no matter what they may be are always the same tired old thing? The same old tried and true political doublespeak comes from both parties. The same tired rhetoric from every one on Capitol Hill. The exact same answers that Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan used are being re-hashed and given a different name, but they are doing the same things. Everybody is busy diving for cover and blaming each other, with both sides saying the other is wrong. One or two old timers in both parties are telling everybody who will listen within earshot that the other side has it all wrong.

 

I say Enough. Enough is Enough is Enough. Baloney, Fooie and spit is what I say. 9 days into the Presidency that was supposed to change the world and the best we can do is to posture, change executive orders that we don't like and gripe because we are in the minority? He may be left handed but it sure seems like most everything else is just about where we left off in December. You want to help me? Fix Jobs now. You want to help me? Buy back 30 % of every mortgage that is overvalued and out of reach. Let millions of people keep their homes. Tell the banks you'll give them 20 cents on the dollar for every mortgage they modify down from the rip me off pricing and then give them my so called tax break. New growth industry overnight. Lawyers would go nuts over this one. You want to help me? Give the bankruptcy judge the power to modify an existing mortgage to a fair one in this economy that makes sense to the average American. If you want to give out tax breaks, don't try to give it at tax time to a family of four barely surviving on 50,000 dollars a year in a double income household. This may help the balance sheets of the treasury, but come payday it don't mean squat to me or to anyone else. You can call it billions of dollars in tax breaks if you want to , but the fact is an extra $2.62 every week don't excite me a bit. Factually you are giving me my own money back and it took you 15 months to do it after I earned it. How's that going to help me? 

 

Will one of you people please tell the truth for once? Can any one of you please do the job you were elected to do and stop looking for one minute at the next election? You were not elected to be right or to beat the other party. You were not elected to begin re-inventing your party so you don't lose next time. You were not elected so you could find cover from tough issues come election time, so you can deny you are part of the problem. You are not there to put off making decisions about today's problems until you are re-elected. You are not there to be a chairman of a committee. You are not there to be powerful. You are not there to go on trips abroad. You are not there to run special elections and run special investigations. You did not get elected to be able to charge thousands of dollars in 5 years giving speeches to half drunk nitwits at a convention and enrich yourself.

 

You are there to serve me and everybody like me. You are there to fix what is broken, not to ensure your continued re-election, cycle after cycle. You are there to make a difference and to make sure America is prosperous and survives with all our freedoms intact for the next 200 years. If that's not why you are there, then you need to go away and go away quick, back to your law practice.

 

You want to radically change the life of the average American you talk so loftily about? You want to make life easier and better in this country? Good, so do I. Here is a radical thought. If you want to give me a tax break, Get out of my paycheck. You guys have taxed and taxed and taxed and came up with new ways to collect taxes so many inventive ways that you are literally taxed from birth to death and beyond and it never stops, and new taxes are applied every day. The latest iteration of this goofy philosophy is that you want to give a tax break to only those people who can prove they have a right to work here because they have a social security number? Tax breaks are a stupid idea whose time is well past because you have to have enormous sums of money in the first place in order to see any benefit from them at tax time. They do absolutely no good. They may sound pretty in speeches but it has never been proven that a tax break helps the average American in any substantial way, once he has spent his tax check.

 

Here is a better idea. Make everybody pay taxes fairly and make certain that every income earned no matter how it was made, is subject to taxation. Make gang bangers who sell drugs pay taxes. Make illegal aliens pay taxes. Make people who get paid cash pay taxes. Tax our 40-45 % of all Americans who never pay a dime of income tax, yet somehow get a tax refund check anyway. Make criminals pay taxes. Tax the Mafia, the Russian gangsters and the Yakuza all at once. Make them pay their fair share. Tax every hooker, pimp, burglar, drug buyer and seller and every one who buys pervert pornography, and make them feel my pain. The way it is right now, virtually none of the examples I've cited pay income taxes, yet they can live lavish lifestyles and then guess who supports them, by paying their share of taxes and then paying for their incarcerations?

 

The average American everybody talks about, that's who, and I for one am sick of it.

 

The problem as I see it, is that fundamentally the tax and tax break equation is all wrong. It is backwards. Instead of applying a tax rate to income, then allowing exclusions and loopholes and tax breaks and enterprise zones to eat the heart out the tax rate and then thinking of complicated and insane ways to give me a tax break, just get to work and adopt a strategy that taxes spending instead of income.

 

If you tax spending, I decide what I spend my money on and you always get your cut from everybody. No one can escape paying taxes with this strategy. Criminals, Gangbangers and drug dealers and illegal aliens have to eat don't they ? Good, when they buy food or eat a lavish dinner collect a tax on that. When a rich guy has a big pool built, tax it. When a supermodel has plastic surgery , that's right, tax it. Even if I am here illegally and don't have a single piece of legal ID at all, I still buy groceries and electricity and gasoline and alcohol and toilet paper don't I? Tax the tax if you want to, but do it so that everyone is treated equally under the law and I am not tax discriminated against because I choose to be law abiding and pay my taxes owed. Tax every good and every service without exception at an equitable rate no matter what it is and we can stop having this idiotic argument about who is right, because our problem is not that I need a tax break, our problem is that not all of us pay taxes.

 

See the two issues at play here are really pretty simple. It goes like this.

 

First, income taxes were invented. No one person , not one law firm, CPA or accountant, and no single agency understands the entire tax code. Lawyers and legislators have made it so unwieldy and cumbersome that it no longer works. There are so many exceptions to the code that people make a great high dollar income out of small sections of it by helping other folks to not pay taxes. It is broken. Accept this and move forward.

 

Second, as soon as everybody figured out that taxation was going to based on the theory of tax collection on income, the underground economy took off, and by some accounts it is actually bigger than the reported economy, depending upon who you believe. Everyone who works for cash figured this out a long, long time ago. Ask any waitress or waiter. You think they declare all their tips, just so you can take it from them ? This process allows and encourages people to lie in order to save money, and only punishes those too ignorant to hide their income.

 

Its not that hard to say out loud and If I can figure it out, all those Ivy league lawyers in Washington DC ought to be able to do it too.

 

I doubt there is any political will to even think about this. They are all too worried about being re-elected next time.

 

President Obama, Yeah, we can, but sadly, No we won't.

 

 

Thankx for reading my rant ! 

 

bigmike

 

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  

 

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

I found an Alternative to eBay

Hey everybody, I just wanted to let you all know I found an alternative to the outrageous fee increase that went on in ebay last spring/summer.

Because their fees went up so much and because they changed the whole dern place I had stopped listing there, and had to find a new strategy.

The new place is called Bonanzle.

You can find it at : http://www.bonanzle.com/

Here is the lowdown.

and my bonanzle store : http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/22570

I still have items listed at half.com (yeah I know , its part of ebay) but mostly because in that format things sell.

Here is my half.com store.

http://shops.half.ebay.com/answrtek

Currently I have 130 movies and 67 books in every category imaginable available for sale.

Thankx for reading my rant !

-bigmike

Windows 7 - Some funny stuff

Windows 7 - Now coming to a store near you. (Also known as Super Vista, the Fixta for Vista, The Vista that shoulda been and Mac Wannabe-ista).

This guy that draws these cartoons is frickin hilarious.

Check out his web site at http://xkcd.com

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

THIS ONE PACKS A FIRM PUNCH

A friend of mine sent me this and I concur. Read on.

 

This was written by a Canadian woman, but oh how it also applies to the U.S., U.K. and Australia


THIS ONE PACKS A FIRM PUNCH

Here is a woman who should run for Prime Minister! Written by a housewife in New Brunswick, to her local newspaper. This
is one ticked off lady.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001
and have continually threatened to do so since?

Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from the nation's capitol and in
a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting
against in a brutal insurgency

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable
by beheading in Afghanistan.

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed
throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by
hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide
bombs.

I'll care when the Canadian media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on
the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a CANADIAN soldier roughing up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:

I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank:

I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and 'fed special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining
that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts:

I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn you guessed it,

I don't care!!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this
ridiculous behavior! If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country!

And may I add:

Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Soldiers don't have that problem.

I have another quote that I would like to add, AND.......I hope you forward all this.

One last thought for the day:


Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1. Jesus Christ

2. The Canadian Soldier.

3. The British Soldier.

4. The US Soldier, and

5. The Australian Soldier

One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom.


YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET ALL OF THEM.

AMEN!

 

 

 

Thankx for reading my rant ! 

(and thank you to the Canadian Woman who wrote this)

 

bigmike

 

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  

 

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

 

Re: Hate Vista? You May Like the Fix (Your Article)

Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 11:39 AM
To: 'pogue@nytimes.com'
Subject: Re: Hate Vista? You May Like the Fix (Your Article)
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/technology/personaltech/22pogue.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em 

 

By DAVID POGUE

Published: January 21, 2009  

 

Dear Mr. Pogue,

 

I read your article with some interest and with an eye on discerning if Windows 7 may be worth my time or patience or money. I found the article well written and a good mix of Pro's and Con's concerning the software. Your article in nytimes.com, hits all the "Why we disliked Vista themes", squarely on the head, yet misses one very important consideration (maybe two if you include enterprise sales). I'm not a Microsoft hater and have seriously considered Vista, yet can't see how this makes sense to me or to the average home user. Everything I have is running on a Windows platform , mostly all with Microsoft software.

 

Here is the big question I've seen nobody address and really have seen no one attempt to answer.

 

Who is this version of Windows targeted to sell to? In other words , what compelling reason exists to make me or any consumer (who is more than the average home user) run out and buy this new Operating system? I'm confused as to why I should even consider it as a replacement for any of my machines. Lets see. (without major investments in all the devices on my network)....

 

If I buy Windows 7 (What - Super Vista?), I will have the same issues with drivers, accessories, updates and peripherals that I would have with the current Vista offering. My computer exceeds the average system requirements (3.06 GHz process or, 3 Gb Ram etc), but none of my printer drivers are compatible, none of my usb devices have Vista drivers, my digital camera isn't compatible and has no Vista drivers, my video card is not Vista capable (Dual VGA output, dual screen), my customized Windows style keyboard does not have updated drivers, and my 5.1 surround sound system card from Creative Labs does not have Vista drivers. They all work flawlessly with Windows XP Professional though. That is on one of my 6 computers. Neither of my laptops is rugged enough to run it, my web server can't run it, my wife's desktop won't run it, my wireless Home music device isn't compatible, virtually none of the other devices attached to my home network can be recognized by Vista (or by Super Vista - Windows 7). My web server run Windows 2000 Professional and has absolutely no issues to deal with except to run it.

 

In order to be able to just install and run this one OS on any one of my systems the TCO (Total cost of Ownership) would be staggering. This is just to make the OS run and I haven't even considered the impact on the software on any of my systems. Imagine how a CTO of a medium sized company would answer the question from the CEO... "What would the TCO be to update our company to Windows7". Confusing pricing strategies don't even make it to the top of the list, once you start to investigate all the other issues. So to be clear and if I understand the issues clearly and correctly, it isn't targeted at the Power user, can't be seriously considered right now for Enterprise volume licenses, isn't really an upgrade product for older (2003 and prior) machines, is a break from how Windows operates with XP and prior versions, and has serious implications for millions of pieces of software that run flawlessly on WindowsXp and prior versions, then pray tell who is this OS going to be sold to? Someone who has one computer, who just checks email and surfs the internet? As the OS replacement for a new computer purchase ? As the OS of choice for college students to play music and games? To a brand new computer user who won't have to re-learn how to use a computer? Of all computer users, how can they seriously think this will attract mass-consumption?

 

I don't have any need for self-flagellation, so it must not be targeted at me. I would have to win the mega million dollar lottery and then hire a software consultant, a personal geek to fix everything it breaks and then literally spend thousands of dollars to be able to even think about doing this. This is the part I don't get. You think the public was disappointed with Vista? Wait until they get a load of Super Vista (Windows7). This strategy is about as honest and compelling as the soap maker who touts "New and Improved" to sell their product and then it turns out that the only "New" is the box design and the "Improved" is that the Box size is smaller with less in it , yet the product costs more. This is more of the same and less reasons to switch than was reported with Vista.

 

To date, no one has seriously reported this (the TCO nightmare). You should consider what it will cost the average consumer to run it , on a TCO basis and then report that. I think you would be amazed at what the real dollars spent would add up to. This is pretty much the same discussion on why we aren't buying Office 2007 or upgrading at the same rate with any of their development programs (.Net etc), it is why Windows Server products sales are sluggish, and why none of the Fortune 500 (a small number did and most switched back to XP) upgraded to Vista in the first place. Its also why you can buy a laptop right now for around $500 and why they'll give you Vista Premium basically for free. It may be great but who can afford it? If I can't afford it , then it doesn't matter how wonderful it is and I could care less that it looks , acts and feels like a Mac. I'm not a Mac hater either , but I run 100 % Microsoft products, so how does making it work like a Mac make me want to buy it?

 

It used to be that I and people like me were the target audience. Doesn't seem that way any more.

 

Thankx for reading my rant ! 

 

bigmike

 

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  

 

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

How can I help you?

 

How can I help you? You ever hear these words in a restaurant or C-Store? You walk up to the counter or you sit down in the restaurant or call someplace and the first thing they say to you is "....How can I help you?" Then, in the flash of an eye, you get put on hold or interrupted or told "I don't handle that". Next !

Wait a minute, did you want to help me or not? I haven't even finished explaining to you what it is I want yet and already you are yelling next ! Give a me the common courtesy of you undivided attention and try to figure out how to help me solve my friggin problem !

Why do people say things like this anyhow? It means no more than the usual "How are you?" greeting that you get from most folks when you first see them. If you answer this phrase as it is asked, they look at you like you just ran over their foot with their car. They don't really want to know, they just want to hear you say fine. Irks me to no end. You don't want to know , don't ask.

Here's another one. There are about 300 million people in the USA (estimate). Most of those people are born here, educated here, work here, vacation here, retire here and die here. Almost all of them speak English (in varying degrees). Yet, when you call some place, the automated menu says "To continue in English, press one". Like I need to know what language to speak in , in my own country?

I am not insensitive to non-English speakers. Whenever I can I try to learn conversational phrases in the language of the area in order to be able to communicate in the language of the people around me, or I take somebody who can translate for me. Why on gods earth then do I need the phone company to ask me if I want to continue in English?

Assume I want English, I live in America, ask If I want to communicate in another language. "To continue in Espanola, press dos". Seems pretty ignorant to ask the high 99 % majority of the people who call if they want to communicate in the predominate language in the country you are in. If I was in Japan, I wouldn't expect for the voice prompt to say, to continue in Japanese, press one, I would expect the message to be in Japanese, because I am in JAPAN !!! - duh!

You ask me , we have went too far to the left in our cultural sensitivity.

Oh I'm sorry, you don't speak English or you are deaf, don't worry, I'll talk louder !

Here is another stupid decision, where we are busy trying to be all things to all people and never to risk offending anyone with our products, goods or services.

I'll bet almost everyone in America has used a drive thru ATM. Most people have used them more than the inside of the bank. I am sure there is a segment in America who has never used anything but an ATM. The access to the keypad is designed so that you can use it from your car. The drivers side of the car is usually the side you transact your business from.

If all of that is true, then why pray tell are there Braille indicators on the keypads at a drive thru ATM? Who is ever going to use that particular function anyhow? Is this designed for the legally blind yet totally functional driver who will occasionally need to go to the ATM late one night who does not want to get out of the car because the seeing eye dog is afraid of the dark?

What the heck is this all about anyhow?

How did we become such a society of idiots anyhow?

 

Thankx for reading my rant ! 

 

bigmike

 

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  

 

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

 

Not Everybody gets to be a CEO.

Not Everybody gets to be a CEO.

Simple things that are just stupid

I saw this sign above the doorway of a Flying J travel plaza.

The question it brings to mind is almost too simple to ask.

Who in their right mind thinks the cashier at a truck stop, knows more about Homeland Security threat levels than the average person does?

To me , this is just another one of those idiosynchratic messages we see all the time that nobody pays attention to, except maybe lawyers.

The message on matches that says " Warning, when struck against the attached rough surface, may cause flame", is about the same , maybe the same category at least. The message on peanuts that says "May contain nuts", (no kidding saw that one at a McDonalds, in happy meal stuff.

What exactly is the message here?

Just what is it they are trying to say?

Maybe the message is "Oxymorons unite !

FYI : An Oxymoron is a combination of contradictory or incongruous words, such as 'Cruel Kindness' or 'Jumbo Shrimp' (Jumbo means 'large' while Shrimp means 'small'). It is a literary figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory words, terms, phrases or ideas are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means.

Try this : http://www.oxymoronix.com/

Some of my favorites are:

1. Military Intelligence


2. Unbiased Opinion


3. Microsoft Works


4. Exact Estimate


5. Virtual reality

Seems to me they over thought this.

They should have just put it on a T-Shirt (or a sign).

Thanks for reading my Rant !

-bigmike
http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

Life is really just 2 questions

Life is really just 2 questions...





Should I get a dog.....?

OR



Should I have children?

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

This guy is a hoot. Visit His website !!

Fricking Hilarious !!!

-BigMike

You Tube downloader -Free

You ever wish you could download YouTube videos? I do it all the time for free !

You can too. Go here - http://www.download3000.com/

Its pretty cool and fairly easy to use. NO Nagware, Adware, Malware or Spyware.



You know me, I don't recomend anything that doesn't work.

Thankx for reading,

BigMike


http://www.bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

Thought For the day !!!

Just my thought for the day !!!

BigMike

Here is some real stupidity

Student arrested for 'passing gas' at Fla. school
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120ap_odd_flatulence_arrest.html?source=mypi
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
STUART, Fla. -- A student at a Florida school has been arrested after authorities said he was "passing gas" and turning off his classmates' computers. According to a report released Friday by the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the 13-year-old boy "continually disrupted his classroom environment" by intentionally breaking wind. He then shut off some computers other students were using.
The Spectrum Junior-Senior High School was arrested Nov. 4.
A school resource officer placed the boy under arrest after he confessed about his behavior, according to the report. He was charged with disruption of school function and released to his mother.
---
Information from: The Stuart News, http://www.tcpalm.com/



http://www.bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

This is (in my opinion), absurd.

He was arrested for intentionally "passing gas". You can now be arrested for having a bodily function at an inappropriate time and place.

If someone could please tell me how, I'd like to learn this skill, so I can pass it along to my children. He really got arrested for turning off the computers and causing a disruption, however it is sensational to report it this way.

What a load.

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants. They will be posted even if you don't agree with me in the comments section on each post.

And then the fight started........

AND THEN THE FIGHT STARTED……

• My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?' I said, 'Dust.' And then the fight started....
• My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.' I bought her a scale. And then the fight started...
• When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive... so, I took her to a gas station. And then the fight started...
• After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later. The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application. When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office. She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.' And then the fight started...
• My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' 'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.' 'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating t hat long?' And then the fight started...
• I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it... he was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!' So, I looked down at him and said, 'Well, then which one are you?' And then the fight started...
  

Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really pissed. She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!"The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Bob has been missing since Friday.

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

Marketing is still a big fat lie !

OK. I'll be the first one to admit, in order to use the rest of this article as any basis for conversation, you are asking marketing geniuses to not put their best product foot forward. They get paid to make you think you absolutely have to have their junk or their service and you will not be a fit human being without it.

Here's the issue as I see it.

Most Marketing is a big fat lie. They (ad agencies) call it sales techniques.

I call it lying to sell Junk.

It's not a stretch, it's not a fib, it's not a shading of the truth, it's a big fat lie.

Here's why I think like that.

1. Yelling the name of a car or product or dealership 74 times in the course of a commercial along with the phone number, does not create urgency in the mind of the consumer. It does not create "impressions". It just invites the gullible to buy a product that they now cannot forget even if they wanted to. Similar to having a song stuck in your head.


2. No one really has a shape anywhere remotely close to the shape of any supermodel or anywhere close the shape of any magazine model or porn star. Out of all the women I know, not one of them has ever spent $100,000 on the necessary plastic surgery it takes to create this illusion. The problem is that our daughters think they are "fat" when they don't look like some surgically enhanced, photoshopped, airbrushed version of the real person.


3. It does not matter if you call in the next ten minutes or 10 hours. You'll still get the same deal as anybody else who calls in from their trailer park to order the junk they saw on the infomercial at 3am. The technology does not exist which allows ad agencies to control call centers based on when a commercial ran in your time zone on your cable outlet. Also on a related note: If a commercial says "Wait, that's not all- we'll double your order, etc", then the crap you are ordering is not worth anywhere near their "value price" in the first place. When they say "that's a 75$ value", what they really means is we tried to sell it for 75$ and nobody would even come close to this junk for that price so we had to cut the price in half in order to sell it to you. Guess what? The markup is still more than 99%. Plastic caulk edgers can be made from any cool-whip lid for nothing. Molded plastic, while not free, is never worth more than a couple of cents by the time you see it on an infomercial.


4. Just because it says "New and Improved" on the box, does not mean the product is new and improved. Most of the time, the packaging is what is new and improved. Anytime you see these words it really means that the manufacturer had to figure out a way to raise the price somehow, so they reduced the amount in the container by 1% and increased the price by 5%. Now, that is a new and improved box and a new and improved price , and the product is "Old and the same". Don't fall for that one either. Their is really no value in the words "Lifetime Guarantee" either, unless it is from one the three companies that will probably be around in ten years. If you buy a widget from "Aqueduct sales" with a lifetime guarantee, it will not help you when they go out of business 2 weeks from now. No company= No guarantee. Put the guarantee on a box and take a dump in it. You will then have a guaranteed box of crap.


5. No One has ever ran through a meadow of three foot tall grass into their lovers arms. Too many stickers, burrs, insects, uneven ground and broken glass. Nobody ever runs through a meadow with freshly washed hair, only to have it get all hot and sweaty and need to be washed again to remove the junk in it from the sweat.


6. The offer you saw advertised on TV at the car dealership has never been used or offered.. No one ever gets Cash back. The money is added and applied to the price of the car. There is no deal. the price of the car was increased by the amount of the incentive in most cases, Or they want a bigger down payment and have a higher interest rate than you want or the "bank" wants the payments extended longer, or you have to buy an extra warranty. There is no DEAL. There is no "Boss" in the back approving your car deal or purchase. The salesman went to the candy machine. They leave you sitting in the room with the door closed on purpose to make you sweat, to get you to be emotionally invested in the car. Walk away, fast. . Come back in an hour and ask if they are ready to really deal. You will get better results. Trust me


7. No matter how cool it may look on TV, trust me, never and I mean never, dance your way down a NY city street looking at your shadow, while listening to your music device. It is an invitation to a mugging. And you will look stupid.


8. A very low percentage of people who join the military (like less than one half of one percent) ever get to fly an airplane, command a large ship, fly a jet, fire a major weapon system, carry a cool sword and dress up in the cool blue uniform. Most of the time you join, you work your butt off doing mundane things, you wait and then you get out. Nobody ever climbs cool mountains all by themselves, flies a jet for the fun of it, or just applies to be a sub commander and walks right into the job. All of those jobs are taken by people who have dedicated their lives to being the best at their craft as they can be. You will peel potatoes and empty garbage cans just like you would be doing in your home town, only you will do it in Podunkviklle aboard a ship somewhere or on a remote base in a hostile country.


9. There is not a product made on this planet that will get red kool aid out of white carpeting. No matter how many times Billy Mays says so, OXY-CLEAN or whatever junk anybody is selling on TV, the red stain is there to stay even if you had a towel and some of that crap ready as soon as you spilled it. The are only three methods for getting it out. One, the carpet must be treated with a stain blocker like scotchguard or something like it, Two, Cover it up with a throw rug (or try to bleach it out and when the first two fails(and they will, believe me) , replace the carpet. Same for magic glue (yeah right), 50 machine washings, The last car polish you will ever need and any of the rest of the junk in this category. Two words. Barbie - Unrealistic. Two more words . GIJOE- Gay.


10. A mop is a mop. A broom is a broom. A spray nozzle is a spray nozzle. Nothing they do to it and no color they make it will ever make it worth $19.99. Ever. Even if they say order in the next ten minutes and we'll double your order for free, keep in mind that they are selling a plastic broom handle, with plastic bristles for $10 each. It just ain't worth it. No air purifier is worth three easy payments of 69$. Why would you pay $300 for a fan ? A rubber tip on the end of a rubber broom don't make it worth $29.95

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

Microsoft Office 2007

As some of you may know, I write a little bit of code sometimes. Usually things like automated forms, database applications, Outlook automation and etc.

 

For the last couple of weeks I have been updating one of my projects for a client of mine, that was started way back when Office was Office 97. Every year they make changes to their programs, I update the automation and things go on. Not this year. The parent company of the guy I work for, switched from Office 03 to Office 07.

 

Gawd, what a mess they have made out of what was a pretty good product. You leaned to navigate, to do certain things to use the bells and whistles and how to make the program do what you want it to do and wham ! Nothing works anymore like it should. Nothing is easy, Nothing is where it should be, code is screwed up, templates are plastered all over the place, projects blown completely up.

 

To upgrade what I have would be more than $950 (but it is supposedly not about money?)

 

The bottom line is this:

 

It (Microsoft Office 2007 - All versions) sucks.

The price sucks, the ribbon sucks, compatibility sucks, It just sucks.

I hate it when a big company like this pillages us and collapses our wallets just because their last product (remember Vista?) tanked.

It sucks too.

They took a pretty good product that took them more then ten years to get right and screwed it up royally.

 

You may as well get used to it though, if they cared what we thought they would spend the money making what they already have better and not force feed us this crap to have to stop and learn all over again.

 

It may be a better piece of software, but I don't have the time to stop everything and learn all I know all over again just so they can make more money.

 

What the Hell is a ribbon anyhow ? That sucks too.

 

Another wonderful product from Microsoft.

 

Oh and by the way ? Microsoft suc.....

 

 

Thankx for reading my rant ! 

 

bigmike

 

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  

 

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

 

Check out my business at http://answrtek.com

 

This is bassackwards !!!

This is bassackwards !!!

How is it that a corporate CEO can make millions of dollars per year and millions more in bonuses and then feel justified in laying off people in his company in order to bump up the share price for the shareholders? Don’t the shareholders realize that at some point they could bump up their own share price, invest directly in their own companies and make more profit by having a nimble well trained and well staffed company?

At least they would if it wasn’t the same 250 people on every board in every company in America. There is no glass ceiling anymore, its an ASS ceiling. Sarbanes Oxley is a joke. It is still the same good old boys network running everything, and they still have all ten fingers in the till. Shoot, I know people who have 800 + credit ratings right now, run successful businesses, and the banks will not loan money for any reason. they are afraid to because they view it as their duty to protect the bank, and not to protect their depositors, their communities or the people in it.

Thank the FED and Ben Bernanke for that. I appreciate it Warren. Thanks a lot Mr. Gates. Keep pumping up the banks, somebody has to protect the billionaires money I guess.

In the same train of thought, Why is it that the news will report that a company laid off thousands of people, or closed a plant or sold a whole division and that bumps up the share price, and they paint it out like it is a good thing ? Are these people really that stupid?

Or are we?

Seems to me bad news (less capacity and less employees to do the work), should key the directors and the shareholders and even the general Public that they have the wrong upper management in the first place. Seems to me they ought to hold the CEO responsible for the problem, not the hourly staff. The CEO can hang on for 10 years and he has a contract they have to buy him out of to get rid of him. Us? It’s a greased banana and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

They think the current money crisis was caused by credit swaps? By subordinated debentures? They are crazy ! (and mistaken) Here is a word of advice. Even if you have to eat crap with a serving spoon at work right now, keep your job no matter what you do. You lose your job today and you are screwed. Another one at the same money is highly improbable. You better stay focused on keeping that paycheck coming right on in.

The new world economy is stacked against us. This current crisis wasn't caused by a bank, it was caused by greed. Wall street greed. The rules were made up by people lining their own pockets with our money. 25 points different in a complicated credit score based on obscure no logic reasoning and they figure out how to charge you thousands more dollars to buy a house or a car. You wonder why nobody is buying houses or cars right now?

It makes very little practical sense to fire the older workers because of high wages, to hire younger workers because of low wages, because to do so makes the purchasing power of the money they are paid (the younger worker) worth less. You earn less, everything costs more and your dollar doesn’t go anywhere as far as it used to.

Global warming? Yeah right, after we burn all the couches and chairs and dinner tables to keep warm maybe.

This crisis is because we are busy allowing companies to not pay taxes. It is because we are busy allowing employers to please their pocket books by merging with each other and then firing thousands of workers at once to manage their share price. Fannie mae and Freddie mac failed because the price of food went up, because ethanol increased the price of everything that is made with corn by 45%. They failed because we sat idly by and watched our auto makers pay workers 81$ per hour and then wondered why they lost money and cannot sell cars. They failed because the price of a gallon of gasoline doubled in 8 months and a fill up was 2 times as expensive at the end of the year as it was on the first day of the year. They failed because electricity, natural gas, jet fuel, diesel fuel and heating oil rose to levels never seen before while we did nothing but wring our hands.

You wonder why credit card companies are going under? Simple, everybody they gave credit to, has lost their jobs. they are in foreclosure, their cars have been repossessed, their bank accounts are empty and most are contemplating some form of bankruptcy, suicide, divorce or all three.

You think I worry about my 401k? Not my biggest worry right now, I assure you. I could care less what the price of a share of Ford, GM or Chrysler is right now as long as I can afford a gallon of gas to get to work, I'm good thanks. Heck, I care more about what a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk costs right now than an automakers share price.

Hundreds of Thousands of people have lost their jobs since January 2007. Most of them had to take work at less than one-half the salary they used to make. You wonder why banks failed? Hell, I wonder how I'm going to eat, how I'm going to afford to get to work. I drive 3 times as far , to make half as much, on gas that is twice as expensive. And you want me to feel sorry for a bank or an auto maker? The numbers these idiots ought to be concerned with is the jobless number. Fix the jobless problem and you have fixed everything else. If I have a job, I'll pay my mortgage, my credit cards, my bank loans and etc.

You do not have to "fix" really anything else. Just quit screwing with my job. !!!!Stop rewarding CEO's who think they have to trim expenses by firing thousands of workers to make wall street analysts happy so their share price doesn't drop. Just stop the stupidity.

In companies like the ones I just alluded to, the CEO’s of those firms have one common personality type. They think, for some strange reason that laying off people, constantly firing and constant criticism will shake up the place and make people more productive. I just don’t get it. What happens when you constantly shake up the place is everybody starts looking for a way to protect their job and keeps their head down, with very little effort going towards getting and productive work done in the first place. Dilbert makes more and more sense every day.

For some years now corporate America has been chasing a share price at the expense of everything else. We have almost wiped out our ability to manufacture everything from tube socks to washing machines in our quest for lower costs and higher share prices. Large retailers like Wal-Mart have contributed to this idiocy for a long time and I’ve yet to hear anybody ask the question that seems pretty obvious to ask.

How are we going to be able to buy anything in this new “World Economy” , if we don’t have anywhere to work that pays a decent wage and if there are no companies left to be loyal to? What are we supposed to be loyal to now anyway? A Brand? “Yes maam, I’d like one TIDE t-shirt and two pairs of Viagra socks please”. Get a grip !

See the thing is , we are in the middle of a fallacy that is a downward spiral and everything we are doing right now is managing that spiral downwards.

Less jobs is less money. Less money is less purchasing. Less purchasing is a negative economic trend. We will not be able soon to buy anything made in China because we won’t have any money to buy it with.

Who are all these poor third world nations going to sell to if they can’t sell it to us?

I couldn’t tell as I am late for my shift at McDonalds.

Today is dumpster clean out night and the kids are starving !!

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

Americans

I've had this for several years and originally got it off the internet, somewhere. I didn't write this but thought it was a good time to post it again.

 

Thankx for reading my rant ! 

 

bigmike

 

Visit my blog online at http://bigmikerant.blogspot.com/  

 

I encourage you to leave your own comments or reactions to my rants (even if you don't agree with me) in the comments section on each post.

 

________________________________________________________

 

Finally someone says it right !!!

 

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but  there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone  who killed an American, any American.

 

So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one:

 

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese,Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

 

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

 

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.

 

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need.When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

 

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least.The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty,welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists. So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

 

Pass this around the World.