Thursday, May 21, 2009

This is Your News...This is Your News on Drugs.

Oh man, I am just flabbergasted by the news lately. I don't pretend to be a news junkie but I am interested in the world around me. I read the crappy free paper every day, I watch The Today Show in the morning (they have a news desk, so I guess that counts), and I check CNN.com at least once a day at work. At the very least, I'm tuned-in to the world. Here are the latest nuggets of knowledge that have stopped me in my tracks. I'll start small and work my way up to the items that really get me worked up:

NObama: Steelers' Harrison Says He'll Skip White House Visit
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/19477962/detail.html

James Harrison, linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is refusing to join his teammates on a visit to the White House, at President Obama's invitation. His quote is so amazing that I can't even try to paraphrase it, you'd be missing out:
"This is how I feel -- if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl. As far as I'm concerned, he would've invited Arizona if they had won."
Yes! Of course, you very large, very strong, very obviously suffering-from-mental-acuity-issues-based-on-your-chosen-career-path man! That is PRECISELY why you were invited, and no - you are not psychic - it IS true that Arizona would have been invited if they won. I just....I can't.....auuuuugh!


Patti Blagojevich to Join Show Husband Couldn't
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/05/21/ap6451550.html

I saw this on The Today Show while getting dressed this morning; it's the reason I was a little late getting out the door. You know what they say about car wrecks - you don't want to watch, but how can you look away? From Forbes.com:
A federal judge barred Blagojevich, who faces federal corruption charges, from being on the NBC show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" because it would send him out of the country. But his wife, Patti, accepted an offer from the network to appear instead and went to Los Angeles earlier this week to film a promotional shoot, said Glenn Selig, the Blagojevichs' publicist.
My favorite part about this whole thing is that Patti Blagojevich (whose hair is not nearly as luxurious as her husband's, that must kill her a little inside) told Merideth Viera that she was doing this to "pay the mortgage." Good ol'Rod commended her for "going back to work" and making a decision for her children, not for herself.

How on God's green Earth is this work? And if sending yourself to a jungle thousands of miles from your children is for their good, then I think you might have more problems then just putting food on the table. On another topic, when did Patti Blagojevich become a celebrity? If her picture has ever been in People Magazine or Us Weekly, it was probably in a background shot of some political bigwig dinner that she was invited to as Blago's "+1." OMG, I wonder if she was wearing YSL bcz when she was interviewed by the paparazzi at Pinkbery last week, she....oh. Oh, wait. That sentence has never happened/will never happen/wouldn't be spoken about if it did happen. Way to find the cream of the crop, NBC. You should be ashamed....assuming you aren't already.



Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling Payers

First, a quote from Senator Harry Reid, D-Nev:

"We stood up for consumers and stood up to abusive credit card companies. We said that big can no longer take advantage of hardworking Americans. We demanded that when Americans use a credit card — as almost everyone does almost every day — they no longer have to fear that they’ll be abused.”
I think I would feel a little more enthusiastic about this fight if it wasn't going to royally screw people like me that prefer to pay off their credit card balance in full. I hate owing people money and, I guess unlike most Americans, try to live within my means. From the second NYTimes article linked:
People who routinely pay off their credit card balances have been enjoying the equivalent of a free ride," says David Robertson, publisher of the Nilson Report, "because many have not had to pay an annual fee even as they collect points for air travel and other perks.

“Despite all the terrible things that have been said, you’re making out like a bandit,” he said. “That’s a third of credit card customers, 50 million people who have gotten a great deal."

Made out like a bandit? I don't take kindly to being compared to a law-breaker for paying my bills in a timely fashion. In the words of Edward L. Yingling, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, “Those that manage their credit well will in some degree subsidize those that have credit problems.”

You heard right: a fee for people who pay on time. Where is the motiviation to be debt free? This country is so bass-ackwards.


I know this is getting long, but once you start analyzing the news, it's hard to stop. I guess that's why there are so many political junkies around. Just 2 more, I'll be brief!

Guantanomo Bay/Nancy Pelosi is a Liar
  1. I cannot believe that the Senate, in one of it's first bi-partisan votes of the Obama administration, told the President to take his detainees and stuff'em. What are we supposed to do, go crawling to Europe and ask them to take the illegal-held POWs from the war we pulled them all into in the first place? And why WOULDN'T you want them in America, considering the other options. Do you want to send potentially untrustworthy people back to the countries that instilled these untrustworthy ideas in them? Or would you rather they be surrounded by a maximum security prison wall, in the middle of a cornfield in Kansas? I mean, even if they escape the prison, they're surrounded by people that love the 2nd Amendment and dislike foreigners.
  2. Did she know? Didn't she know? Isn't it ridiculous that one of the biggest news stories this month is whether or not Nancy Pelosi knew about waterboarding? If you think back, you'll remember that this conversation started because liberals were entertaining the idea of taking legal action against members of the Bush Administration that made our worst nightmares come true. The Republicans have filibustered the entire country. Nancy Pelosi's knowledge/ignorance is not a real issue in this discussion. If we were going to indict everyone that knew about torture, we'd be missing half of the political leaders in this country. The question is: who made it happen and who encouraged it?
And lastly...

Obama vs. Cheney

Today, President Obama gave a speech called "American Safety." Former Vice President Dick Cheney
also gave a speech today, called "Keeping America Safe." I really have only one question on this: does anyone remember Cheney giving a speech or interviews during his eight years in office? He's become a huge "get" for guest spots on all the political talk shows, and keeps showing up with scathing sound bites critiquing Obama and the current administration. Just a few months ago, no one even mentioned the name "Dick Cheney" unless it was preceeded with, "Do you think" and followed by "is still alive?" The only thing I recall him doing publicly during the Bush years is blurring the VP compound on Google Earth. Thanks for showing up, Dick.

3 comments:

Adam said...

You forgot one other thing about Cheney: He went friend-hunting out in the woods. Way to wield a gun, Wyatt Earp. Go with water pistols next time.

Lex said...

I have only two questions. Where are we going? And, Why are we in a hand basket?

Unknown said...

oh man! ridiculous!!!! all of it!!! and now i am really pissed that i pay my bills on time! did this shit go through yet? can i write to senators or something? wtf??

but this did all crack me up and scare me at the same time. heh.