Dear Pope...

KFC Double Down - Review

I had read about the new KFC "Sandwich" - the "Double Down" online.  It's two boneless original recipe breasts, with cheese, bacon and sauce in the middle.  Sounds great, right?

I had to try it.  And truth be told, it tasted good, but something was bothering me.  The picture shows real bacon.  The advertising says "two pieces of bacon".  Unfortunately, the "Double Down" I received did NOT contain real bacon, but rather FAKE BACON.  That's right - IMITATION BACON on quite possibly the most decadent sandwich sold by a chain restaurant.  It was kinda like Turkey Bacon - it was okay, but it wasn't bacon.


Gripes about advertising fraud aside, the whole thing went down quite nicely, and in eating it I couldn't avoid being aware that I was doing something bad.  And it felt good.

Becoming vegetarian 'can harm the environment'

This article made me smile, even if the author backs off the headline:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7219223/Becoming-vegetarian-can-harm-the-environment.html

TARP officially lost $2.23 BILLION on CIT Group

The U.S. Treasury has lost its entire $2.33 billion TARP investment in CIT Group (CIT), according to a regulatory filing submitted Monday.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/top-stocks/blog.aspx?post=1617156

Would You Have Spotted the Fraud?

Would You Have Spotted the Fraud?

ATM "skimmer" found in Woodland Hills, CA. Would you have noticed it before inserting your card and keying in your PIN?

Teleprompter Shot of The Day

Here's Obama dropping in for a chat with his middle-class task force. And people made fun of Reagan because of his notecards!


This picture was stolen from www.nationalreview.com

Chris Dodd, Barney Frank: Officially Sons-of-Bitches

So how many jobs did you say we’d save???

Unemployment hits 10.2%

Just saw this on the news, and didn’t believe it.  I went to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website, and pulled up this:

Here’s a brilliant illustration of this (from June 2009):

WinAntivirus - Mac users falling for it?

I received two calls today from clients who "fell for" a "winantivirus" popup, AKA smitfraud. For those who don't know, that's a scam popup that often results in a "drive-by download" - a virus that installs itself on your machine without you clicking anything.

It varies all the time but may look something like this:



It alerts you to several viruses that it says are currently on your machine, then directs you to download their antivirus software that will fix everything. Of course, it doesn't fix anything, and in many cases it is the thing that is infecting your computer. It is sometimes very hard to remove.

I get calls about such scams almost every day, but what makes today interesting is that these aren't Windows users. It's two clients who switched to Mac over two years ago.

Thankfully, these types of scam software doesn't even work on Macs. But the website that the popup directs you to asks for credit card and other personal information as they process your "order" for this crap. That, of course means they're stealing your money and likely worse.

Obama's Credit Card Bill for USA

Click this to see it larger:


Obama's Credit Card Bill for USA
Originally uploaded by syedbalkhi

Just something to think about...

Double standard?

If, as David Letterman insists, this is
the "slutty stewardess look"...
























Then what, pray tell, is this?
























First Lady Obama exiting Westminster Abbey.

More about Obama firing IG Gerald Walpin

When asked for the reason for firing Gerald Walpin, the White House rep said that Walpin had appeared "...confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve." Essentially, they called him SENILE.

See http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/06/white-house-plays-hardball-says-fired-ig-walpin-was-confused-disoriented-engaged-in-inappropriate-co.html

Really? Well, it seems Glenn Beck thought this was pretty unreal as well, so he proved that Mr. Walpin is anything but senile.

See http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/17/sweet-glenn-beck-gives-gerald-walpin-a-senility-test/

Barbara Boxer is petty and small

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) unleashed her wrath on a Brigadier General for calling her "ma'am" yesterday.



If that video goes down, try this.

She was absolutely out of line. I don't know what caused her to snap on this particular officer, but I'm certain others have called her "ma'am" before.

I'm also certain that the Brigadier General worked a lot harder (and longer) to earn his title.

Barbara Boxer showed herself to be petty and self-absorbed. She should be ashamed.

She's up for re-election in 2010. Hopefully she'll be answering to "ma'am" again soon.

Another bad sign...

The Americorps' Inspector General is supposed to be independent, so that he/she can investigate government waste and misconduct. The most recent Inspector General, Gerald Walpin, was just fired by President Obama because he was investigating a friend of Obama's, Kevin Johnson. See the the following:

http://www.google.com/search?q=fired+Inspector+General&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_national_service_inspector_general

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1151ap_us_national_service_inspector_general.html

Why is this not on the mainstream (non-cable) TV news?

Chastity Bono -- Becoming a Man

Chastity Bono -- Becoming a Man

Yeah, yeah... Empathy, tolerance, yada yada yada...

I just can't wrap my head around this sort of thing.

If I was with a "woman" who told me that she had been born a man, I'd be very upset about what I consider false advertising.

One of the articles on TMZ mentions that Chastity Bono has been in a committed relationship for several years. This relationship is with a LESBIAN woman. So when she changes to LOOK MORE LIKE A MAN (because she's still got female chromosomes) will her partner suddenly be "going straight?"

Or will she be like that "pregnant man" who has a beard and KEPT THE VAGINA AND OVARIES???

Octomom IDIOT

TMZ has published a photo of the OCTOMOM IDIOT'S Minivan with a "Denver boot" on it.

As far as I'm concerned, the boot isn't the interesting part.

It's the fact that she left her children UNATTENDED in a CAR.


http://www.tmz.com/2009/02/13/octuplet-mom-odyssey-interrupted/

WARNING - They also have a picture of her showing off her HUGE belly. Be warned.

Nuttin' But Stringz

I ordered a CD from Nuttin' But Stringz via their website (www.nuttinbutstringz.com) - well over 6 weeks ago.

No email confirming the order. And still NO CD.

It's only $15, but it's the principle that's important.

They're talented guys, but apparently I'm not the only one they DEFRAUDED:

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/nuttin-but-stringz-c115419.html

UPDATE: I FINALLY RECEIVED THE CD ABOUT TWO DAYS AFTER THIS POST. The disc itself was very professional looking, but the outer packaging felt cheap - no jewel case, just a sleeve.

I gave the disc away, since I already had it via bittorrent. It's now on my iPod and my iPhone - and it's good, but their crappy follow-up may hinder their growth. It's a shame, because they're very talented.

Vegans

I just went to a graduation dinner for my cousin Seamus. It was at a VEGAN restaurant called "Real Food Daily". Apparently this is because his girlfriend, Lauren, is vegan. No one else in attendance is vegan. Only Lauren.

I ordered a diet coke. No dice. I ended up drinking some raspberry ginger ale, which was nice enough, but not what I wanted to drink.

I ordered pasta. It was described in the menu as having "parmesan sprinkle". I asked the waitress if it was parmesan... Nope. It was a walnut something-or-other.

By the way, instead of making a simple tomato sauce, they put some ridiculous fake meat sauce crap on it...

My other cousin, Darcie, ordered a "Grilled Cheese Sandwich" for her 5 1/2 year old daughter. She took one bite and declared it "yucky." Darcie took a bite and agreed. Lauren took a bite and said "Yeah... it's different." Ya think?

When the waitress was reciting the dessert offerings, she mentioned at least three items that were chocolate-whatever... Of course, I had to ask if it was in fact chocolate. The waitress replied that it was "mocha", and then further described it as cocoa powder. So technically NOT CHOCOLATE.

The classic end to the evening was when I ordered a double espresso. When it arrived, I asked the waitress for sugar. You guessed it - NO SUGAR!!! (What's wrong with "Sugar In The Raw?) She brought out a shaker of "Maple Crystals", which were so clumped up I had to open it up and break off chunks...

BOO!!!!

The whole thing is a fraud. The common justification for a "vegan" lifestyle is to prevent cruelty to animals. Of course, this is Los Angeles... Many of the other diners had leather products (purses, shoes, etc.) and got into cars (and some BIG SUV's) with LEATHER seats.

Moby (the musician) was there. I've known he was vegan, but I've never bought his albums... I digress.

Anyway, the fact that she (Lauren) would make all of these people (10 not including her) go to a VEGAN restaurant seems at least a little bit self-absorbed. It was pretty clear no one (other than her) enjoyed it, except maybe for the (non) chocolate cake...

Seamus seemed to suggest to his dad that they'd have similar food at the wedding. If that's the case, I may either boycott the reception or have pizzas delivered... I'm serious.