Posts Tagged ‘reality’

The Little Congress and the TSA

Posted: November 16, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Back in the days when Lyndon Johnson was a congressional aide rather than a congressman or senator he participated in a group known as the Little Congress. This was an association of congressional aides formed to promote public speaking but in 1933 recognizing the potential for publicity and power that the organization had Johnson arranged without warning to bring in many additional voters of dubious eligibility and managed to win election as the speaker. He ruled over the little congress as speaker and then as boss until eventually a young man from Mississippi decided he was not going to go along with Boss Johnson.

In the 1935 elections for the little congress he managed to rally enough members to pass reforms (strenuously opposed by Johnson men) requiring people to sign ballots and to check them against the voter rolls. This of course eliminated the secret ballot, a sacrosanct right among voters but it turned out that once the ballots were properly checked against lists The Johnson candidate was defeated.

Lyndon being Lyndon instantly decided that the Little Congress was not worth his time he abandoned it and shortly thereafter the informal voting methods returned because the cause that prompted the draconian measures was gone. (this information is from The Years of Lyndon Johnson The Path to Power by Robert Caro)

Which brings us to the TSA.

A lot of people are objecting on the basis of decency and the 4th amendment. I disagree with the 4th argument since all passengers are subjected to the same methods thus not constituting an unreasonable search, but this debate is not the point.

The point is that the only reason why these methods are necessary is because The Flemish Menace a group of Islamic fanatics have declared war on the west and are attempting to kill us.

Our unwillingness to face and waste resources on people not remotely connected to terror would be as if the FBI decided to concentrate an equal percentage of resources examining the black community in Mississippi when investigating the murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner in 1964.

The day we face that threat and acknowledge and act accordingly is the day that intrusive searches and pat downs will be unnecessary because we will be examining the actual people who have a motive to strike at us.

Of course the administration being the administration we are not only not doing it, but apparently considering the exact opposite.

Hey we elected this government, we did this to ourselves.

Consevatives and ratings, The Chicken and the egg

Posted: November 15, 2010 by datechguy in economy, oddities
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While everybody has been so fascinated by the rating for Sarah Palin’s new show (which broke all of TLC’s ratings records) I found the following story at the same site much more interesting.

According to months of data from leading media-research company Experian Simmons, viewers who vote Republican and identify themselves as conservative are more likely than Democrats to love the biggest hits on TV. Of the top 10 broadcast shows on TV in the spring, nine were ranked more favorably by viewers who identify themselves as Republican.

Even more funny is what the article says about shows democrats:

Dems are more likely to prefer modestly rated titles.

Like Mad Men.

The Emmy favorite has struggled to get a broad audience on AMC. It scores through the roof with Democrats (does anyone in Santa Monica or on Manhattan’s Upper West Side not watch it?), but it has one of the weakest scores among Republicans. The same is true for FX’s Damages, Showtime’s Dexter, HBO’s Entourage and AMC’s Breaking Bad.

And this quote made me laugh out loud:

That also goes for the soft-rated, critically beloved 30 Rock. Its score is highly polarized in favor of Democrats. The only show on NBC’s Thursday night comedy block that Republicans rate highly (slightly better than Democrats, even) is The Office … which happens to be the one bona fide hit in the bunch.

30 Rock is not a bona fide hit? You’d never know that from watching Morning Joe or MSNBC.

Let’s put it another way, if your desired audience is the critics rather than the general public, you are a likely a democrat.

This reminds me of the old Crime is down and prisons are full bit. Our friends on the left couldn’t figure out that crime was down because we were locking up criminals!

The point is that if you make shows that appeals to conservatives odds are you are going to have a hit because we are a center/right nation. If you decide to make a show that appeals to the MSNBC crowd, you will be the darling of Hollywood and the papers but don’t expect to get the same ad rates that NCIS and company manage.

Remember you can make a living with a niche market, you can’t win elections with one.

5 Billion will get you 8000

Posted: November 13, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: ,

Well 8,011 to be precise:

255 million: The number of Americans with existing health insurance coverage.

20 million: The number of Americans without any health coverage at all due to economic circumstances.

375,000: The number of Americans with pre-existing conditions HHS said would apply for coverage in the first year of ObamaCare, one of the main political arguments for its implementation.

8,011: The number that actually did.

So a 5 Billion dollar program that was a fierce moral imperative so urgent that it required congress to pass a program that the American People didn’t want covers 8,011 people?

Classical values opines:

To put this failure in perspective, consider the resources necessary for the federal government and the 27 states who offered their own policies to implement this measure. It’s very likely taxpayers have actually paid more for administration than enrollees have received in benefits.

Likely, LIKELY? Of course it is likely.

Lets put it another way. There are according to Wikipedia 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts., if you divide 8011 by 50 you get 160 people per state. So we have passed this to cover just over one person in every other town in Massachusetts.

Or even better there according to National Atlas.gov there are 35,000 cities and towns including the virgin islands and Puerto Rico or on Google answers they use census data to count 18,443. So that is less that one person in every other town or every 4th town depending on how they are counted.

Right now my family is on COBRA. The full price of the family plan costs $1500 with dental per month. Rather than a government program costing $624,141.80 PER PERSON COVERED. If say every other person in Fitchburg kicked in a dime in a bucket once a month it would pay for a family plan for that one guy with enough left over to get a head start on the next month.

Instead we get a government boondoggle that our children’s children will be paying for.

You wanted change with Obama? You got it!

Voices of Main Street Chris Vasiliadis of Williams Resturant and Tavern

Posted: November 13, 2010 by datechguy in business, economy, oddities, short films/interviews
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Chris has been in business for 27 years so he knows how to stay in business during good times and bad:

His advice keep up or increase quality, decrease quality and give some low-end options for people who can’t afford a $20 steak but can afford a $9-$12 meal.

It sounds like some business didn’t take that advice:

The manager of Don Otto’s – a recently shuttered food market in the South End – is blaming neighborhood patrons for its untimely demise, cooking up an angry message to fair-weather fans of the Tremont Street eatery.

Blaming the customer? It gets better, or worse depending on how you look at it.

“People don’t understand their purchases make a difference, and that by buying something that wasn’t exactly what you want, it gets you closer to what you want. It’s an investment.”

It’s not our job to provide you with what you want. It’s the customer’s job to buy what you don’t want to keep me in business.

And unlike Tom Kahale advice Don Otto’s believes price should be no object.

Among their customers were U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has stopped by for their locally made lasagna. But in this economy, $28-per-pound steak and $8 cartons of eggs was not a recipe for success.

The arrogance is simply astounding. That’s why Don Otto’s is out of Business and Williams is about to start its 28th year without the advantages of a major metropolitan area or customers like Tom Menino or Barney Frank.

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