Category Archives: Rant


Rant

Uh, What?

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Joystiq: Earlier in May, Biden met behind closed doors with 20 representatives from faith-based organizations to discuss gun control and immigration, and he briefly addressed video games, Politico reports. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, proposed to Biden that “media and entertainment that portray violence should be subject to a special tax, with the proceeds going to help victims and their families,” according to Rabbi Julie Schonfeld. Biden replied that there was “no restriction on the ability to do that; there’s no legal reason why they couldn’t” place a tax on violent media, Sister Marjorie Clark told Politico. Biden again emphasized the need for more research into the subject, Clark added: “He said they really need a good scientific study, which they’ve done on things like smoking.”

Uh, what? There’s no porn surcharge… and what would constitute violent media? Shooter video game? The national news? Has anyone noticed that media sites are promoting what used to be local news lately, just because there’s a gun involved? Those disc packages that are impossible to open from a plastic shell without scissors… those are really violent media. What about Food Fight? That’s a grey area, right because you’re fighting violently but with food, so it’s fun. In Defender, you shot aliens that because they were trying to steal people from the ground and it was on you to save them… that’s a moral quandry. Or Berserk? That was self defense and Otto couldn’t even be shot. Pac-man because he terrorizes ghosts when powered up? Obviously violent. Look at how their expression goes all tense and they run away from him. Violent.

I don’t know what to make of the news when we shot Bin Laden… where in the hell does that come into play? Do I owe a family that lost a love one due to gun violence a quarter because I clicked on a news link?!

Some how I think that if Franklin Graham asked Biden to support a bill that taxes “wrong” religions and give the money to the “right” religion – because obviously Franklin’s is the only right one – it would be less subjective… wait until Clark realizes that most of the existing scientific studies show that violent media doesn’t cause violent behavior and he has to go fund one specifically to back the out come he wants…

That Biden sorta says “OK” blows my entire frontal lobe.

#jackass

Rant

Growing Up Whoville

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CNN.com Small town, big arches: Why one Australian town is fighting McDonald’s

I thought Monroe, CT had the lock on stupidity against fast food places… back in the day, Burger King wanted to open up shop. They were met with a lawsuit that called out that “the smells from the restaurant would distract kids in the nearby schools”. No joke. It really happened. On the other side of town the CT-homegrown Duchess was required to pay cash to two of the other quasi-fast food places in the form of a payoff, just to open their doors because “Duchess will have so many customers that other business will suffer.” Also not a joke; it really happened. Mind you that when they did allow a real fast food place, not only did they put it across the street from the original BK site but it was McDonald’s; it would seem their smells didn’t cross the street to bother children at school. Or as I like to think of it, it’s not how much you pay out, it’s who you pay off. …and this is the same McDonald’s that made national news in the mid-90’s for selling pot out the drive thru window. Certainly not a joke; it made the AP wire after it circulated the local news.

After all of that in one town, why would I pick on this small Australian town?

“The presence of a 24-hour restaurant will mean (an) increase of littering, vandalism and worse and the leaving of items such as used condoms or broken bottles, meaning children are more likely to be injured or harmed in some way,” she said.

Sadly, it’s not a joke – that’s a direct quote. Because I for one know that people only litter after midnight. And I would never vandalize a place unless it was open for business throughout the night. Further, I always get my sodas from McDonald’s in glass bottles and certainly I would never loiter in a parking look unless it was to use a condom. Logically, I will only use a condom for vandalizing broken glass bottles that were littered in a fast food parking lot to directly injure and harm all of the children that would only be there from midnight to dawn.

What the hell did I just read?

Rant

Derp?

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What a real snow day looks like.

Um… Didn’t North Korea declare that they were going to preemptively attack our nation with nuclear weapons this morning?

I can’t tell if this is an attempt to show how much the US doesn’t care (meaning we have balls so we don’t sweat the little things), shows how little faith we have in the North Korean technology (even though South Korean has technical chops to turn a PopTart into a smartphone), or of it’s a bit of a “look at me, I’m so cute in the snow” attempt to distract the nation that HI, AK, or any of our major cities on the west coast are now in an active danger of attack…

Either way, this picture really irks the fucking hell out of me.

Rant

Experts? Of Selling Media Ads Space? Maybe.

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CBSNews:Officials have not publicly revealed what led them to the motive, but sources say investigators have found evidence Lanza was obsessed with Breivik. They’ve also recovered what they called a “trove” of video games from the basement of Lanza’s home. Sources say Lanza spent countless hours there alone, in a private gaming room with the windows blacked out, honing his computer shooting skills. Lanza also made multiple visits to nearby gun ranges with his mother, Nancy Lanza, where they practiced together with actual weapons. Three guns, all registered to Nancy Lanza, were used in the Sandy Hook massacre. Lanza used a fourth weapon to kill his mother before his attack on the school.

Yes, because obviously, playing video games where you hone your “computer shooting skills” is so much more effective than going to a fucking gun range with real weapons where you are getting Mommy’s approval. Does this mean that if I play Forza for countless hours in a private gaming room with blacked out windows that I will drive a stock car at Daytona better than the people that practice with real cars?

And if I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: the media needs to take some responsibility in this because they give stardom to criminals by never letting a topic die which feeds attention seeking psychos a road map to immortality.

Funny how CBS write the article that a) points out that the Newtown fuck up was trying to out kill an internationally renowned murderer that b) the press still talks about and puts in the limelight yet c) doesn’t take any responsibility for helping to give either whack job attention or d) is encouraging copy cat criminals to follow the same path and e) shirks any blame on itself by blaming gaming again.

Pulitzer material, to be sure – at least it sells well.

Rant

All Hail Nordstrom

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Was in downtown Seattle yesterday and noticed that the majority of the display windows at Nordstrom were papered over, from the inside, showing no product. In the center of the windows was a large sign – one that I recognized from the Bellevue store – that states: “At Nordstrom, we won’t be decking our halls until Friday, November 23rd. Why? Well, we just like the idea of celebrating one holiday at a time. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving. Nordstrom will be closed Thanksgiving Day. On Friday, our doors will open to welcome the new season.” And it looks like they’ve been doing it since at least 2007.

That’s when I realized that when I was in the Bellevue store that there was not one Christmas decoration to be seen, even as recently as Nov-14.

Holy. Shit.

Way to stay classy Nordstrom.

Rant

All The News That’s Fit To Tint, Redux

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Was watching TV with Jolene the other day and caught a story on the news… the gist of the story was that – for the first time – a mother, father, and son were all going to be deployed to active duty. All three are in the Reserves and all three are going to Afghanistan.

While we were watching the story unfold, I was half tempted to check my Facebook feed and see how this played out amongst Red and Blue friends, but then I got to musing about how some of the news channels would spin this…
Continue reading All The News That’s Fit To Tint, Redux →

Rant

On The Cutting Room Floor

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MSN: Facebook guessing game: What’s it really worth? The problem underpinning analysts’ various numbers is the uncertainty about Facebook’s growth prospects. […] “We still believe the company is likely to disappoint investors for the next several quarters.” Hey, guys: Where were you before?

They were right there, saying the same bearish things that don’t sell well in the news, if everyone is preaching the virtues and successes of a company.

You heard them; you just didn’t listen.

Rant

Study Group?

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MSN Now: More students are turning to prostitution to pay debt

Should I be conflicted by this? Hard to say. I mean, back when I was in school – you know, before they invented color and the world was many shades of gray – people would shag away for the fun of it… not very discriminating in who they slept and not many problems came out of it. Given that “kids today” are sleeping together at a far younger age, whoring around with much more ease (and less shame), and wearing bumper stickers for skirts, shorts, and shirts, doesn’t it make sense to pocket the cash to pay for the rising cost of tuition and gain the education?

There’s a certain logic to it. If you take the morality out of the conversation, which the youth of any generation often do, and take the risk vs reward ratio out of it…

I blame the Jersey Shore.

Rant

A PSA For Protesters

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There’s been a ton of press over the last few weeks over the Occupy [insert your city here] movements… I thought it was time that someone send out a PSA to the people that have taken to the streets. I’m pretty sure that the protesters that are actually out there already know that it’s hard to live this life outside – no matter how many Starbucks or REI products you have – and it’s not very much fun, but I don’t know that they’ve learned the most common lesson for people in their situation:

Just because you protest it doesn’t mean you’ll get your way – hell, it doesn’t even mean that you’re right.
Continue reading A PSA For Protesters →

Rant

I See What You Did There

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MSNBC.com: Michael Moore confesses: I am the 1 percent

Ya know, I’m beginning to feel like the media is creating those images where you have to let your eyes go lazy and then you see something in 3D… or that I’m seeing things very much like Picasso did.

Either way, I pose this realization: Michael Moore is a non-racially driven, Caucasian version of Al Sharpton… or if I may humbly submit the following term: Media Bimbo.
Continue reading I See What You Did There →