Archive for category Rants
Things Currently Pissing Me Off
Posted by billspaced in Rants on March 1, 2010
I have to get a few things off my chest. Since this is a rants blog, and it’s MINE, proceed at your own risk!
If you don’t like what I have to say, fuck off. Or leave a comment. Or both.
If you like what I say, retweet it, stumble it, digg it, and all that jazz.
Okay?
Rant 1
It pisses me off that Team USA lost yesterday in the gold medal match against the Canadians in hockey. I know, it’s the only thing Canada has going for it, because Celine Dion doesn’t matter and Neil Young, though he totally ROCKS, is a Bay Area guy now. Ten years ago, I’d give them Shania Twain, but she’s old and insignificant now.
The Canadian team was stacked. And they played a good game. Obviously, enough to win. However, they played like shit most of the tourney, losing once to the USA, in which they were totally out hustled, outplayed, and outclassed.
I told my wife before the final game that I thought the IOC ought to institute a new rule. If you lose to the eventual other half of the gold medal match, you should start the game with the score of the game you lost. In other words, Team USA should have been up 5-3 before the gold match even started.
I will say that I’m happy the Sharks came home with 4 golds. That’s pretty cool. I feel sorry for Joe Pancake (I mean Pavelski) and Douglas Murray. Not so sorry for Nabby, though. I think he’s a whiney little punk.
Rant 2
I’m getting tired of assholes spouting off about the economic stimulus not working. As if it’s $787 billion wasted. Here’s the deal: Anybody who’s taken Econ 101 knows that when business isn’t investing, the government needs to step in. John Maynard Keynes proved this decades ago. It’s what got us out of the worldwide Great Depression, too. World War II was a HUGE government program, far bigger in real and relative terms compared to this stimulus package.
In fact, when the stimulus was first talked about, being over $700 billion, I said out loud to my work buddies that it’s only about a quarter of what it needs to be.
That’s right, 25 percent.
Or deficient by 75%!
Mark my words, had we spent $2.8 trillion right away, we’d be out of this shithole by now. The government always does far too little and far too late. On both ends of the economic boom and bust cycle.
They should have done more to cool down the last few bubbles, and they should have stepped in as soon as it was obvious that banks stopped lending and businesses went to sleep. None of this crap is rocket science, but we sure make it seem that way.
And if we spent too much and the economy went gangbusters, TAX the FUCK out of people to get the money back. It’s not that difficult.
In the end, all of society’s problems are math problems. They can be solved simply by determining what the shortfall is and then deciding what our societal priorities are (it’s called voting and/or getting involved in your government).
Let’s stop listening to Sarah Palin and start listening to smart people who’ve studied economic depressions their entire professional lives (like Ben Bernanke). Sarah Palin is a retard anyway.
Rant 3
Global warming. The whole issue pisses me off. I don’t know or care what to believe. This is the way I see it: Let’s not waste shit just because we can. I don’t really care whether doing so causes global warming, cooling, cow flatulence, or mass psychosis. All I care about on this front is that we’re wasting shit that will never come back (like trees, oil, and oxygen). Yeah, trees are a renewable resource, but they take so damned long to grow that it doesn’t really matter any more. We’ll never catch up compared to what we’ve squandered.
Global warming, the issue, is all about money and power. It’s not about saving the planet. After all, where were these mother fuckers when the dinosaurs died?
Either there was an ice age or a meteor hit the planet. In either event, nobody did anything to stop it. Doesn’t anybody care about the dinosaurs? My kids do – they want the dinos to come back. Me too, but only if they want to eat anybody who gives a shit about global warming, the issue.
I do believe that the earth is getting warmer. That may cause seas to rise, icebergs to melt, changes in the climate, etc. I do believe that man has not done a damned thing to curb it either.
But I also know that volcanoes add more greenhouse gases to the planet than man ever can, and should one blow up tomorrow, all our “global cooling” will be for naught. Plus, China is never going to get on board, so none of this shit matters anyway.
Can’t win, don’t play — Homer J Simpson
So can we just agree that getting 7 miles per gallon is wasteful and buy something that’s better for your pocketbook? It’s better for the environment, too, of course. But let’s just start thinking with our money rather than our hearts. It’s a much better measure of things that matter.
That’s enough for now. I’m all heated up and I think I’ve just added 1/1000000000th of a degree to my household temp.
Bill
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment.
Rants Blog Carnival — July 15, 2009
RANTS
Welcome to the July 15, 2009 edition of RANTS.
Acon presents Breaking: We Scooped Obama Normandy Speech! posted at Conunderground.com, saying, “We got an early copy of the upcoming Normandy Speech”
Misako presents Girls, girls, girls… posted at The Idiot Pandemic, saying, “Ranting about work…”
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Liz Cheney’s Song posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Either she is very politically-astute or she’s the dumbest person on the planet. Even dumber than her father. If he really is her father. (He couldn’t possibly have produced a dyke.)
taucan62 presents Newsweek Hack Declares Obama God posted at rjjrdq’s America II, saying, “Is this clown deranged? Even his Muslim object of worship would probably object to this. Or would he?”
Let’s stop calling Obama a Muslim. He’s an American. Americans elected him, after all, over the “All American” boy and his faithful dog.
Glenn Truitt presents A Plea For More Denim posted at TruLove – The Glenn Truitt Story, saying, “One man’s rage against the fashion machine…”
jepner25 presents Would You Like Some Jesus with Those Fries? posted at Jack’s Pad.
Ian Sherwin presents NBA FINALS posted at What’s Good Blog, saying, “Great blog article about the NBA finals.”
randyist presents Random Randy . com: Michigan Police to Have Automatic Weapons posted at Random Randy . com, saying, “Police are becoming more and more above the law. Read my experience in this post.”
Wenchypoo presents Just When You Thought You Ran Out of Hope posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Phil B. presents A Broken Clock Might Not be Right Twice a Day « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, “A stopped analog clock is correct twice a day.”
Edan presents Park City Ski Resorts posted at Park City Condo Lodging, saying, “Find out all about Ski Resorts in beautiful Park City, Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics.”
Howling Duck Ranch presents Food Security & Food Sovereignty: Tasty rhetoric, unpalatable realities posted at Howling Duck Ranch, saying, “A short rant about our government’s ‘one size fits all’ approach to so-called food safety legislation which is driving the demise of our food culture and destroying rural communities.”
We’re about to face a food crisis of unknown proportion. Where once there were dozens of meat-packing plants, now you can count them on two hands (if you’re genetically-engineered food hasn’t caused your hands to sprout 17 fingers). This is NOT GOOD.
Ruoall Chapman presents Online Spyware Removal posted at Online Spyware Removal.
Brent Diggs presents Appetite for Combustion – Guns N Bars and the Bad Idea of the Week posted at the Ominous Comma.
Tom Escent presents Introduction to Nerds on Wall Street posted at Quantitative Finance, saying, “Think of this as sort of a Hitchhiker’s Guide to Wired Markets. There are no robots parking cars for six million years, but there are robots trading millions of shares in six milliseconds, so maybe that’s close enough.”
Wall Street Terminators?
Mikkal Travvis presents Huffington Post: Christians Are Domestic Terrorists! posted at Why God?.
Andrew Heath presents Why States Reject Gay Marriage posted at Andrew Heath, saying, “Thanks.”
amy presents Gypsy Jiving: Jive Turkey Shout Out posted at Gypsy Jiving.
Michael Bass presents Joe Tegerdine VS Gene Taylor! The Battle For Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District! posted at Debt Prison, saying, “Every now and then a person runs for office that gives us hope. For many voters in the last election Barack Obama was that person. Obama promised ambiguous ‘Change’ and the people bought it. Unfortunately, for many Obama fans and devout Democrats, his foreign policy actions and his further crack down on civil liberties has come to resemble something like George Bush part II.”
Max Canning presents The Road To Hell Is Paved With Tweets posted at Inebriated Discourse.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell. Just Sign! posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Ram Raghavan presents The incorrectness of political correctness posted at ramraghav.com, saying, “An article analysing the concept of political correctness”
Bob Brooks presents Wall Street Execs Living Large While the Rest of the Country Hurts posted at Bob Brooks – Prudent Money Blog, saying, “The Salary CZAR, who dictates the executive level pay for anyone receiving money from the Government. There is no doubt about it! Something stinks!!”
Scott Spiegel presents U.S. Invents Diabolical Weapon Called “Twitter” to Bring Down Iranian Regime posted at Scott Spiegel, saying, “President Obama said last week that he doesn’t want the U.S. to be seen as “meddling” in the recent Iranian presidential election. In his view, vocally supporting the protesters is comparable to the CIA’s coup against Mossadeq in 1953.”
Scott Spiegel presents When Bush Does It, It’s Criminal Behavior; When Obama Does It, It’s Human Resources posted at Scott Spiegel, saying, “Another one of those seemingly boring, legalistic White House scandals has popped up again—the kind that was legion during the Clinton era. This one bears scrutiny because of the contrast between the media’s treatment of it and a similar but benign Bush controversy.”
Scott Spiegel presents The Democrats’ Confidence Game | Scott Spiegel posted at Scott Spiegel, saying, “In a survey conducted in early June, Rasmussen found that Americans trust Republicans more than Democrats on six out of eleven top issues.”
Wow. Convincing win. Dems “only” win 5 out of eleven. Not even close to half. Let’s cut to the chase: We all hate politicians. The key comes down to this: With whom would you trust your children? If you answer with anything but grandparents or very close friends, then you’re lying.
Abigail Perry presents Why we need a single-payer system posted at i pick up pennies, saying, “I’ve navigated private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare. From our $3245 a month income (pre-tax), I have to find $502 for my husband’s insurance. (Oh, and we make almost twice the limit to get any state medical programs.) So far this year, my husband has racked up just about $1000 in various copays even WITH insurance. For all these reasons and more, I’m understandably sick (no pun intended) of hearing middle-class conservatives — who’ve probably never had anything worse than the flu — try to tell me that we have “the best health care system in the world.”"
The problem is healthcare costs, not healthcare insurance. One naturally leads to the other. But it’s the $10 Tylenol tablet at the root of this one. Exacerating the issue is the concept that the patient is not intimately involved in the monetary transactions. It’s a stupid system. Time for “change.”
Greg Laden presents Dirty poor people living in slime: Missionaries and American Idol : Greg Laden’s Blog posted at Greg Laden’s Blog.
Kenny Silveira presents Is this what we have become? posted at Black Holes And Revelations, saying, “An article about the ongoing violence in Iran during the aftermath of the elections.”
Madeleine Begun Kane presents De-Moralized? posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Wenchypoo presents About That Climate Change Bill Voted On Last Friday… posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Bob Brooks presents Dazed and Confused – The Weapon of the Politicians posted at Bob Brooks – Prudent Money Blog.
DWSUWF presents Demographics über alles posted at Divided We Stand United We Fall, saying, “I have been hearing about the permanent realignment theory for years and have never been comfortable with it. To me it smacks of racism, and I find this notion of ethnicity determining electoral destiny to be offensive. The explicit assumption is this: 1) Since Latino’s voted overwhelmingly Democratic in the last election, they will always vote Democratic. 2) Minorities will always vote based predominantly on their race, and not as individuals. I just don’t accept the premise.”
Phil B. presents End All Foreign Aid posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, “In 2008, the United States gave an estimated 26 billion dollars in foreign aid to other countries. For free… Yup, the U.S. government continues giving away your hard earned tax dollars.”
Rich Bordner presents Qurans on the House! « The Pugnacious Irishman posted at The Pugnacious Irishman, saying, “Comments on CAIR’s recent pledge to distribute 100,000 Qurans to local, state, and national leaders.”
Archvillain presents I Apologize to the Gnats posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, “Which has the greater attention span- gnats, or the American public?”
Gnats. What were we talking about?
David Lamb presents Tax, Don’t Cap and Trade posted at Policy Court.
Chris presents Senate Proposes “Health Tax” on Fittest Americans posted at Martial Development, saying, “Are these “shared responsibility payments” for universal health insurance, or a “health tax” on our most responsible citizens? You be the judge.”
Martin Russell presents “Conspiracy of the Rich”- A Review posted at Word of Mouth Marketing.
Phil B. presents Why Conservatives are typically not Conservationists too? « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, “Have you wondered why most conservatives are not conservationists?”
Yes, I have. It doesn’t make much sense. Except that they hijacked the term because it serves their needs. Just like “family values!”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of RANTS using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment.
Rants — June 15, 2009
Posted by billspaced in Rants on June 15, 2009
Welcome to the June 15, 2009 edition of Rants.
Wenchypoo presents Now I’M Changing the Marketing Plan posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Wenchypoo presents The Protectionist Plastic Police posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Sue Roth presents Euthanasia: the path to “dignity”??? posted at IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING, saying, “On euthanasia and the decline of physicians’ ethical standards.”
Aetius Romulous presents Freud’s Bastards posted at ScreamBucket.
Shaun Duke presents Lit Rant: A Few Thousand People Does Not a Movement Make (Or Why Podcasting Ain’t That Great) posted at The World in the Satin Bag, saying, “Podcasting is not as great as some are saying, and I think it’s about time someone said so.(If you want me to submit something that is more political, let me know).”
Ruoall Chapman presents Everything you need to know about how to Make Online Beats posted at Make Online Beats.
Eric Kuha presents Why the California Supreme Court Screwed Up on Gay Marriage posted at Spin One Half, saying, “California Supreme Court has not served democracy. This is a biological take on the same-sex marriage issue.”
Bob Brooks presents The Car CZAR has Spoken posted at Bob Brooks – Prudent Money Blog.
NotYourDaddy presents Entitlement, Dependency, Control posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, “For years, our government has been actively encouraging people to become less and less self-reliant. By the same token, it has been making us more and more dependent on government. The flip side of dependency is control. The more dependent one is on another, the more control the other has over them. Perhaps the underlying motivation is not so innocent as politicians trying to buy their constituents’ love. Perhaps it’s far more insidious.”
NotYourDaddy presents Rise Up and Take a Stand posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, “Margaret Goodwin addresses the Tax Day Tea Party in Grants Pass, Oregon about Our Grievances, and delivers a call to action to rise up and take a stand against overtaxation and overregulation.”
Bob Brooks presents New Credit Card Laws – Victory for the Credit Card Industry and Congress??? posted at Bob Brooks – Prudent Money Blog.
steven germain presents Why We Believe Big Lies (Iraq & Torture) posted at Rough Fractals, saying, “Lies and more lies…”
Shot presents Michael Steele is a potted plant. posted at Conunderground.com.
Wolfgang presents How Small Is This Man’s Penis? posted at Inebriated Discourse.
Glowing Face Man presents Why English Should Not Be The Official Language of the U.S. posted at Glowing Face Man: Awaken the Badass Within, saying, “I don’t think the government should “officially declare” English to be the “official language”. I think it’s a stupid wedge issue!”
Rick Foreman presents Proselytizers at the Door posted at Waiting for the Singularity.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Hark! The Disgraced Former Speaker Speaks. posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Greg Laden presents Happy Memorial Day, Jane Fonda posted at Quiche Moraine.
Mikkal Travvis presents How To Survive A Flu Pandemic posted at Bird Flu Pandemic.
Muhammad Usman presents Drones and FATA posted at here’s my dodo.
Archvillain presents American Taliban posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, “Why do we permit superstitious savages to operate freely in defiance of our laws?”
Wenchypoo presents Late Night Energy Examination posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “This post has absolutely nothing to do with politics, but it will show you what Obama’s “efficiency quest” will bring us in the future.”
Wenchypoo presents Examining Efficiency Again: About Those Dishwashers… posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket, saying, “A follow-up article to my last submission, and yet MORE info on the effects of Obama’s “efficiency quest” down the road.
In the end, what we’ll wind up with: washers and dishwashers that take an hour to run a load, and dryers that take 3 hours or longer to dry a load, depending on what’s in it. In short, it’s machine use discouragement, and we’re back to Granny, the wringer washer or scrub board, and clotheslines…not to mention having our kids stand in chairs beside us at the sink helping us do dishes by hand.
So much for labor-saving devices!”
Rabbit presents Feminism and Circumcision posted at Rabbit Write.
gary ganu presents Why Multiculturalism is Bad For America posted at garyganu, saying, “Conservative news and opinion, mostly opinion. I base my views on my personal experience, reason and common sense.”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment.
Rants – May 10, 2009
Posted by billspaced in Rants on May 10, 2009
Welcome to the May 6, 2009 edition of Rants.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Rudy’s Family Values posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Middle Man presents Electric Cars posted at Middle Man, saying, “Why electric cars won’t save the planet”
John Tedder presents Schuylerville School Superintendent posted at Tedder’s Random Notes, saying, “It’s ridiculous what some School Superintendents make. Small school districts need to be consolidated to save money.”
lavender presents Obesity causes global warming, say scientists posted at News for Freedom Daily.
Greg Laden presents Greg Laden’s Blog : This Blogger’s Take on the Miss California Maneno posted at Greg Laden’s Blog.
David Lamb presents The Casualties of Human Psychology posted at Killer Buffalo.
Jeremy R. Shown presents McArdle distracted by Warren’s efforts posted at Rhymes With Clown, saying, “Why are we wasting our time criticizing Elizabeth Warren given all the funny business over at the Fed?”
Wenchypoo presents Using Our Own Money Against Us Part 4 (a new one for me): Rearranging Bank Deck Chairs posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Michael Bass presents America Should Not Torture Those Whom She Arrests posted at Barry Broom.com, saying, “What you gonna do when they come for YOU?”
Madeleine Begun Kane presents They Only Have Themselves To Blame posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Relax presents Should we worry about the recent flu pandemic? posted at The Wise Curve, saying, “Is it necessary for us to get into red alert mode to combat the flu? Or is it just another overrated mass media hoo-haa to influence people’s emotion”
Yes to the latter
Selkirk presents An Abject Failure: The First 100 Days posted at Political Castaway Blog: Broadcasting Conservatism to Rescue America.
Praveen presents Illinois Governor Tries To Eliminate Flat Income Tax posted at My Simple Trading System.
Shot presents First 100 days, the seeds of crisis?. posted at Conunderground.com.
Silicon Valley Blogger presents The Financial Task I Dread The Most posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”
The Smarter Wallet presents Avoid Scams: Watch Out For False Advertising and Skip The Snake Oil! posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Karl’s Roving Standards posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
NotYourDaddy presents Freedom is Not a Pendulum posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, “When government takes power away from the people to determine what’s in their best interests, that power does not swing back to the people, like a pendulum. The balance of power is permanently shifted from the people to the government, making it easier for government to usurp even more power in the future.”
Eric Michael Johnson presents Priming the Pump of a Swine Flu Pandemic posted at The Primate Diaries.
Archvillain presents Ass in nine posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, “We’re power-diving this country to ruin for the sake of “the children”"
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment.
Rants – April 22, 2009
Posted by billspaced in Rants, rant on April 22, 2009
Welcome to the April 22, 2009 edition of Rants.
Gavin R. Putland presents Employment tax credits: the ‘marginal’ approach to full employment posted at On Line Opinion.
NotYourDaddy presents Taxpayer Tea Parties All Across the Nation posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, “If the founding fathers could have even imagined the plethora of laws, regulations, ordinances, taxes, licenses, permits, fees, etc. that we are subject to today, and which are constantly increasing, they would roll over in their graves.”
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Republican Road To Remedial Math posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Does Your Guilt Spring Eternal? posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.
Greg Laden presents Greg Laden’s Blog : From Graduate School to Prison: What is the rational argument for ELF or ALF? posted at Greg Laden’s Blog.
David Lamb presents Are Keynesian Solutions a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? posted at Killer Buffalo.
Wenchypoo presents Why the Scum Always Seems to Rise to the Top posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Archvillain presents Liberty Wept posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, “Since when are the police allowed to treat citizens like “the enemy”?”
Aetius Romulous presents Economic Democracy Demands One World Balance posted at ScreamBucket.
Aaron R presents An Immodest Proposal posted at Aaron Rogier, saying, “Yet another postmortem of the economy.”
Vianney Ausseil presents 32.2 million Americans received food stamps in January! posted at My 2 cents.
Vianney Ausseil presents Bernie Madoff posted at My 2 cents.
Vianney Ausseil presents France! France! We hear you! posted at My 2 cents.
Kristian Bland presents It’s Not Easy Not Being Green posted at Coquetting Tarradiddles, saying, “A humorous essay concerning the absurd mentality of many supporters of the “Going Green” movement.”
Papa Boomer presents Double Standards??? Fairness from the Far Left! posted at Consumer Boomer.
The Whited Sepulchre presents The Whited Sepulchre: A Subtle Suggestion For Senator Charles Grassley posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, “Here’s a rant about the hypocrisy of one of my least favorite Republicans – Iowa Senator Charles Grassley.”
Shot presents Obama’s New Maginot Line | Conunderground.com posted at Conunderground.com, saying, “such wounds are most often found on cadavers. The cadavers of victims that evidently tried desperately to defend themselves against violent and deadly attacks, but could not muster enough strength or will to inflict sufficient damage upon the attacker in order to stop the attack. The results often wear a toe tag.”
lavender presents Is it insanitea? posted at News for Freedom Daily.
Whitney presents I Resolve to Take a Sundancing Shit on Utah posted at Whitney’s Joint.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment.
-
You are currently browsing the archives for the Rants category.
RSS
