If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, it's a duck.
There is quite a brew-ha-ha here in Sonoma County regarding a Donald Trump wannabe getting a loan from an academic foundation for real estate. Then, of course, Donald Trump got too big for his britches and is now bankrupt. Surprise, surprise.
While those on the board are trying desperately to redeem themselves of the action, I have but a few basic questions:
1. Why is an academic foundation loaning money for real estate loans?
2. Should not direct loans to board members and former board members be banned as a conflict of interest?
It seems like there is a lot of self-dealing going on. I know I would not be pleased to find out that money I donated to an academic foundation was being used to finance a board member's real estate portfolio. I would be pissed as hell.
While I agree that investing money and getting some interest is essential to running a business, I think that the only interest gained here is self-serving.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but you can't trust ANYBODY with large pools of money. This is only one sad example on how funds that are earmarked for what is to believed as "public good" are syphoned off by greedy assholes.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Day After Thanksgiving
Are you all full and stuffed to the gills? I am, and I'm not even talking about how much food I consumed yesterday. I'm talking about my in-laws.
Every year it at least one of them manages to consume large quantities of wine and then continues to make a total ass of themselves. I'm surprised the cops didn't show up.
This year it was the "melting snow woman" who should be in jail. See, the "melting snow woman" has lost 80+ pounds due to a surgical procedure she had earlier in the year. The problem is that now her stomach is the size of a hamster's and a sip of wine will cause her to slur her words. Drinking 3 bottles of wine definately placed her in the falling-down-drunk category. I call her the "melting snow woman" because since her dramatic, sudden weight loss her skin looks like it's sagging and it resembles a melting tub of goo. Her skin looks like it's sliding off. Gross.
Anyway, the melting tub of goo proceeded to get sloppy drunk and open her mouth. Every other word out of her mouth was the F-word. It did not matter there were children present, and non-family guests. It did not stop there. She then proceeded to cuddle up to her 17-year old nephew and then began to stroke him in areas that were out of line -- RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY. At that point another relative immediately jumped up and pulled her off her nephew and threw her saggy ass on the floor.
The party is getting rough.
Then the husband of "melting snow woman" gets involved. He then begins to blame everybody else for getting his wife out-of-control drunk. Hey, nobody was forcing her to drink anything. There were plenty of people there who were drinking only water. As he was trying to justify his stupid wife's behavior, Melting Snow Woman gets up off the floor and says in drunken astonishment to her husband, "Hey... You look like a WHO from WHO-VILLE."
I couldn't decide if I should laugh or be disgusted. I guess I felt both.
Every year it at least one of them manages to consume large quantities of wine and then continues to make a total ass of themselves. I'm surprised the cops didn't show up.
This year it was the "melting snow woman" who should be in jail. See, the "melting snow woman" has lost 80+ pounds due to a surgical procedure she had earlier in the year. The problem is that now her stomach is the size of a hamster's and a sip of wine will cause her to slur her words. Drinking 3 bottles of wine definately placed her in the falling-down-drunk category. I call her the "melting snow woman" because since her dramatic, sudden weight loss her skin looks like it's sagging and it resembles a melting tub of goo. Her skin looks like it's sliding off. Gross.
Anyway, the melting tub of goo proceeded to get sloppy drunk and open her mouth. Every other word out of her mouth was the F-word. It did not matter there were children present, and non-family guests. It did not stop there. She then proceeded to cuddle up to her 17-year old nephew and then began to stroke him in areas that were out of line -- RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY. At that point another relative immediately jumped up and pulled her off her nephew and threw her saggy ass on the floor.
The party is getting rough.
Then the husband of "melting snow woman" gets involved. He then begins to blame everybody else for getting his wife out-of-control drunk. Hey, nobody was forcing her to drink anything. There were plenty of people there who were drinking only water. As he was trying to justify his stupid wife's behavior, Melting Snow Woman gets up off the floor and says in drunken astonishment to her husband, "Hey... You look like a WHO from WHO-VILLE."
I couldn't decide if I should laugh or be disgusted. I guess I felt both.
Friday, November 20, 2009
I Love Thanksgiving
Gobble Gobble....
I love Thanksgiving. I love to cook for large crowds. That being said, my house has always been a natural magnet for the holidays.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because over-indulged, capitalistic society has not quite figured out a way to commercialize the hell out of it (yet). I'm sure they are trying. But then again, there is nothing commercially appealing about family gatherings featuring Uncle Ed farting on your sofa.
I love Thanksgiving. I love to cook for large crowds. That being said, my house has always been a natural magnet for the holidays.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because over-indulged, capitalistic society has not quite figured out a way to commercialize the hell out of it (yet). I'm sure they are trying. But then again, there is nothing commercially appealing about family gatherings featuring Uncle Ed farting on your sofa.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Dear Abby SUCKS!!!!!!
I wish our paper would drop "Dear Abby." How in the hell that bitch can dish out useless advice and still be published is beyond me. Most English teachers would have cut the column out of the high school paper years ago, but noooooooooooooo... nepotism runs deep. Must be nice to be "connected" in the publishing world and ride on mommy's coat tails. Whatever.
Take today's Dear Abby column for an example. Aside from her usual (yawn) cop-out advice to "seek professional counseling" to her retarded followers, she shamelessly plugs her 'for fee' publications and tries to disguise it as a legitimate letter from a reader.
The following drivel was actually published in today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Yes, editors hang your head in SHAME.
Dear Abby:
How do I write an actual letter? I mean with all the texting and e-mail and such just how do I write a letter of thanks with the holiday season approaching?
Signed,
Planted Letter
Dear Planted Letter:
Oh, I'm so glad you asked!!!!! Letter writing is an art, and for only $6.00 you can purchase my Dear Abby Canned Letter Template! Here's how to order....
This shit passes for journalism fit to print????? Give me a BREAK!
"Oh Honey, I don't think we'll need to purchase toilet paper for a while, it arrives daily on our doorstep."
Take today's Dear Abby column for an example. Aside from her usual (yawn) cop-out advice to "seek professional counseling" to her retarded followers, she shamelessly plugs her 'for fee' publications and tries to disguise it as a legitimate letter from a reader.
The following drivel was actually published in today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Yes, editors hang your head in SHAME.
Dear Abby:
How do I write an actual letter? I mean with all the texting and e-mail and such just how do I write a letter of thanks with the holiday season approaching?
Signed,
Planted Letter
Dear Planted Letter:
Oh, I'm so glad you asked!!!!! Letter writing is an art, and for only $6.00 you can purchase my Dear Abby Canned Letter Template! Here's how to order....
This shit passes for journalism fit to print????? Give me a BREAK!
"Oh Honey, I don't think we'll need to purchase toilet paper for a while, it arrives daily on our doorstep."
2010 and the American Economy
Everybody is telling us the economy is getting better. Really? What drugs are they on and how come they're not sharing!
The problem is that nobody has any cash anymore. We have no solid foundation. Everything is financed in complicated voodoo loans up the gazoo and when the dominoes start falling, like they are now, the ripple effect is impossible to stop.
I got word tonight of two long-standing Sonoma County employers who will not make it financially to the end of the year. Both companies got a little over confident during the last boom cycle and expanded dramatically. Now they have laid off a big chunk of their staff, and the those left are working 18-20 hours per week. We're talking about employees who have 15 years + in with the company. Not an easy management decision to make -- gutting longtime employees. This isn't done lightly.
Employers are not always "evil." Employers get a bad rap a lot of time. I don't think employees realize the pressure of owning and operating a business. Employees don't realize the enormous amount of regulations, laws, insurance, etc., employers face. I don't think employees understand just what it takes to even own and operate a business.
I've been playing this game a long, long time. I've seen actual employees rebel against their employer for being a "tight, stingy bastard" and go into business for themselves. Lo and behold, after about 5 years (assuming they make it through the start-up phase, in which many of them do not) they take on the "management bastard" role themselves. They finally figure out how much it takes to keep a business afloat. It's an interesting transformation to watch.
Speaking of which, I think it should be a prerequisite for any and all politicians to have run a successful business. So many politicians have NO CLUE what it takes and issue mandates that are impossible for employers to comply with. Most politicians have never had a pending payroll. That's why we are in the mess we are in. We have people running California who have NO business sense whatsoever.
....and when politicians are in a bind, they just TAX, TAX, and TAX and create massive CLUSTER FUCKS. They are nothing more than financial bullies. When businesses are failing, businesses don't have the luxury of just raising their prices without extreme scrutiny and justification.
The government has no competition.
The problem is that nobody has any cash anymore. We have no solid foundation. Everything is financed in complicated voodoo loans up the gazoo and when the dominoes start falling, like they are now, the ripple effect is impossible to stop.
I got word tonight of two long-standing Sonoma County employers who will not make it financially to the end of the year. Both companies got a little over confident during the last boom cycle and expanded dramatically. Now they have laid off a big chunk of their staff, and the those left are working 18-20 hours per week. We're talking about employees who have 15 years + in with the company. Not an easy management decision to make -- gutting longtime employees. This isn't done lightly.
Employers are not always "evil." Employers get a bad rap a lot of time. I don't think employees realize the pressure of owning and operating a business. Employees don't realize the enormous amount of regulations, laws, insurance, etc., employers face. I don't think employees understand just what it takes to even own and operate a business.
I've been playing this game a long, long time. I've seen actual employees rebel against their employer for being a "tight, stingy bastard" and go into business for themselves. Lo and behold, after about 5 years (assuming they make it through the start-up phase, in which many of them do not) they take on the "management bastard" role themselves. They finally figure out how much it takes to keep a business afloat. It's an interesting transformation to watch.
Speaking of which, I think it should be a prerequisite for any and all politicians to have run a successful business. So many politicians have NO CLUE what it takes and issue mandates that are impossible for employers to comply with. Most politicians have never had a pending payroll. That's why we are in the mess we are in. We have people running California who have NO business sense whatsoever.
....and when politicians are in a bind, they just TAX, TAX, and TAX and create massive CLUSTER FUCKS. They are nothing more than financial bullies. When businesses are failing, businesses don't have the luxury of just raising their prices without extreme scrutiny and justification.
The government has no competition.
Medusa Heads
I've noticed a disturbing trend amongst football players. They all have braids hanging out of their helmets like Medusa. I'm surprised that other players don't pull their long braids and rip their hair out. I know, I know.... It's such a 'girl' way to fight.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Canned Laughter
...here's a stupid rant for today...Canned laughter on sitcoms. I don't know why, but I find canned laughter utterly annoying. Why is it necessary to dub in mechanical laugh tracks? It's like mandating to the audience to unnaturally (laugh here). I don't need instructions as to when, where, and how I should laugh. If something is fucking funny, I will laugh. Thank you very much.
ha ha ha.....see???? I *do* have a sense of humor. I'm not always half-bent over my keyboard clenching my jaw and spewing angry obscenities at the world....
Anyway... back to annoying laugh tracks. Are the writers insinuating that their material is so lame that they need constant prodding for the audience to accept it? Are the writers insinuating their actors can't act? Could it be a condition of both bad writing AND bad acting??? Wow... Disney channel comes to mind.
If you need to dub in a laugh track, your material SUCKS! Canned laughter is the polite equivalent of throwing rotten tomatoes.
Get off the stage.
ha ha ha.....see???? I *do* have a sense of humor. I'm not always half-bent over my keyboard clenching my jaw and spewing angry obscenities at the world....
Anyway... back to annoying laugh tracks. Are the writers insinuating that their material is so lame that they need constant prodding for the audience to accept it? Are the writers insinuating their actors can't act? Could it be a condition of both bad writing AND bad acting??? Wow... Disney channel comes to mind.
If you need to dub in a laugh track, your material SUCKS! Canned laughter is the polite equivalent of throwing rotten tomatoes.
Get off the stage.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
San Francisco Hotel Strike: Palace Hotel
I was watching the news this morning and hotel workers were outside the Palace Hotel in San Francisco picketing about their benefits. Take just *one* wild guess what their bitch was. Yup, that's right.... HEALTH CARE BENEFITS.
Shocker....DUH!
The picketers' intentions are misguided. They should be griping to the government and their insurance lobby butt buddies and NOT their employer about dwindling health care benefits. Granted, the bastard hotel manager at the top should suck up some of the financial pain along with the rank-and-file hotel employees. I don't know if that has happened in this particular instance. Regardless, nobody wants to take anything away from employees unless s/he is a complete asshole. Sadly, they do exist in the employment world....
Do you know how much your health care benefits cost your employer each month? No... I'm not talking about how much YOU pay out of YOUR pocket, I'm talking about how much it costs your employer to offer the benefit. Depending on your plan, your employer will average spending about $1000 per month to provide you and your family health care. You don't see that on your pay check stub.... it's an invisible benefit that has been taken for granted until fairly recently. That's part of the problem.
Be grateful, Picketing Hotel Employees, that you have any fucking health insurance at all and direct your gripe to the greedy bastards holding your health hostage over their vacation McMansions on Maui (accessible only by private helicopter, I might add).
Shocker....DUH!
The picketers' intentions are misguided. They should be griping to the government and their insurance lobby butt buddies and NOT their employer about dwindling health care benefits. Granted, the bastard hotel manager at the top should suck up some of the financial pain along with the rank-and-file hotel employees. I don't know if that has happened in this particular instance. Regardless, nobody wants to take anything away from employees unless s/he is a complete asshole. Sadly, they do exist in the employment world....
Do you know how much your health care benefits cost your employer each month? No... I'm not talking about how much YOU pay out of YOUR pocket, I'm talking about how much it costs your employer to offer the benefit. Depending on your plan, your employer will average spending about $1000 per month to provide you and your family health care. You don't see that on your pay check stub.... it's an invisible benefit that has been taken for granted until fairly recently. That's part of the problem.
Be grateful, Picketing Hotel Employees, that you have any fucking health insurance at all and direct your gripe to the greedy bastards holding your health hostage over their vacation McMansions on Maui (accessible only by private helicopter, I might add).
Friday, November 6, 2009
What Are Men To Do?
I feel sorry for men in our society today. They are confused about gender roles and their "new" place in modern society. However, it is time they realize how much women do and it's about time they get their ass off the sofa, put down the remote, and help with the household and the kids. It's about time they show us a little respect. Fair is fair... this is a good subject to rant about, but this is not the rant I am going to go off on today.
In any event, think about how men are treated today. What career options to they really have? We have turned testosterone into a disease that must be feminized. We have totally dismissed traditionally male jobs into something that is now outsourced overseas, or pawned off on illegal immigrants. What viable career options are open to men who are don't fit into the paper-and-book-based educational mold? We have smart, talented men eager to work with their hands and minds to do something meaningful. We have completely devalued them.
They are completely ignored and forgotten by our "feminized" society. It's a strange irony.
In any event, think about how men are treated today. What career options to they really have? We have turned testosterone into a disease that must be feminized. We have totally dismissed traditionally male jobs into something that is now outsourced overseas, or pawned off on illegal immigrants. What viable career options are open to men who are don't fit into the paper-and-book-based educational mold? We have smart, talented men eager to work with their hands and minds to do something meaningful. We have completely devalued them.
They are completely ignored and forgotten by our "feminized" society. It's a strange irony.
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