Win a bar bet: "Samille".

Look it up, then think about it.

If you don't get it within a minute or two, try Samille

Do I have to explain everything to you?

I was sitting in a meeting in which one of our product managers was promoting the idea of using "cultured marble" in the homes we built. I was appalled. We had a reputation for quality and value. I was shocked at the idea of saving a few bucks per house, when the cost of that savings was to introduce cheap, tacky, crappy goods in the rooms that matter most to women who purchase homes.

My experience has been that you have to work hard to upgrade women buyers from cheaper floor coverings. Upgrading faucets and countertops is much easier. Women want "nice" bathrooms and kitchens.

My response to the sales pitch: "Yogurt is cultured. Bacteria are cultured. This is not cultured. This is uncouth."

The sales rep from Uncouth Sinks, Inc. was stunned and silent. Our Product Manager was embarrased. The rest of the room was a group of adults laughing hysterically – it could have been a scene from a movie, a parody of comedy. The last time I saw people laugh that hard was when President Bush (the Elder) blew chunks at the Prime Minister of Japan. Or maybe it was the first time we heard about the 'stained blue dress.'¹

Follow-up:

1. the sales rep left quickly.... without a sale
2. our Product Manager had to endure months of yogurt jokes
3. to this day I refuse to even consider uncouth marble as a serious product - except for use in trailer parks that are going to be trashed by tornadoes anyway

Disclosure: I built my house 11 years ago

• the tubs, showers, and shop/laundry sinks are fiberglass-reinforced acrylic
• the hot tub is made from a more conventional resin reinforced with fiberglass
• the kitchen sink is your basic, generic porcelin-coated steel

Yes, I specifically purchased plastic goods for those items. But there is no pretense about them. They're inexpensive, durable, easy to maintain. And they're plastic. They're not pretending to be anything. They are colloquially known as "fiberglass." Period.

I'm no longer in construction, but if anyone asks about cheap, tacky crap, I have an opinion and I'm not afraid to use it.


¹ Has anyone seen Hilary Clinton wear a blue dress since 1997?

The Good News: 3-day weekend, including a paid holiday.

The OK News: We get to honor those men (no women yet, remember?) who took on the world's hardest job and led our country through times good and bad.

The Bad News: We used to have 2 holidays - Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday. We got 2 paid holidays instead of just one (note... with those birthdays, 2/12 and 2/22 it was impossible to get 2 3-day weekends more frequently than once every 7 years)

This all-purpose, generic holiday honors all presidents. That includes Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Johnson the First, Grant, and Harding. It's a real downer to have to honor those crooks and drunks.

And the Suckiest News of All: It gets worse! Whose stupid idea was it to honor Nixon .... and Bush The Lesser! Ew-w-w-w-w.

A Truth For Dummies Bonus: Who Was The Worst President?

An actual headline in an actual (major) newspaper:


Read the article.

"Confronted with a sharp change of priorities in Washington, international oil executives are expressing an eagerness to work with President Obama to fashion new policies to tackle global warming. ... Almost all of them seemed reconciled to the United States’ adopting some kind of climate policy, and said they were eager to work with the new administration to devise an effective energy strategy."

Uh-huh.

Big Oil HAS BEEN "working on" global warming for years. Of course, their work has been to attempt to discredit the science of climate change. 100% of the misinformation about climate change comes from the oil industry - either directly from the oil companies' Ministries of Propaganda or from so-called "scientists" hired by the industry to do "research" that results in pre-ordained conclusions.


The goal is not too prove or disprove anything. The goal is to raise doubts - to make people think that the science of climate change MIGHT BE wrong (or not... who knows?). So the oil industry resorts to planting the seeds of doubt. They also know the value of "The BIG Lie." They know that if they throw their lies against the wall enough times, that something will stick - that the lies will become truth in some people's minds, that doubts will work to obfuscate public perceptions.

These slippery creatures are putting up a front to make it appear that they are going to be part of the solution to climate change. They have changed propaganda techniques for two reasons:

1. they recognize a public mandate to 'go green'
2. they are going to cozy up to the new reality of of American governance

They want to appear progressive, but don't be fooled: the only want to perpetuate the drill, baby, drill thinking.

The sad part of all of this is that it is in the oil industry's long-term interests to support legitimate research and to promote conservation of their raw materials. Eventually, as oil becomes scarce in real markets, the value of their holdings and products will increase sharply. The problem is that today's execs don't care about tomorrow. The want everything now - this fiscal quarter - to increase their own current salaries and bonuses. They prefer to let someone else worry about tomorrow's company, tomorrow's shareholders, tomorrow's world. It's part of the gimmee, gimmee, gimmee now culture that says that winning means dying with with the most toys - and that winning is everything.

Our children and our children's children will foot the bill for such greed.

Will Big Oil actually try to help instead of hinder progress on climate-related issues? I'll believe it when I see it. Quite frankly, I don't expect to live to see that.

Take the pledge, watch the video (the song ROCKS!), buy the t-shirt

The President's opponents have made many, many bizarre claims about the recently approved "economic stimulus" law.

One of the claims is that government will tell physicians what procedures can and can't be performed. That is a lie. That claim demonstrates the twisted thinking that goes into the opposition to the new way of governing.

Rep. Tom Price (R-Georgia) says the measure creates "a national health care rationing board."

WRONG!

What it creates is a council to coordinate research into which treatments work best, and are most effective for the money. The new law states quite specifically that the council

1. has no power to "mandate coverage"
2. will make recommendations - BUT! - those recommendations are not to be construed as "clinical guidelines for ... treatment."
   

Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor (R-New York), claims that the bill creates a "new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology." McCaughey also says the office "will monitor treatments" and " 'guide' your doctor's decisions."

WRONGER YET!

• The office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology is part of a Republican plan: it was created in 2004 by President Bush - when the Republicans controlled the executive and legislative branches of government. Bush's initiative was designed to create a health IT system to transmit information that will "guide medical decisions." Typical of good ideas, the Bush administration underfunded that office - thereby crippling its ability to do anything useful.
  
  
• The federal government has, for decades, funded comparative effectiveness research. The intent is to improve the quality of care. It some cases it might show that more costly treatments aren't as effective as less expensive alternatives. It is just as likely to support more expensive treatments when those treatments are more effective.
  

Now for the real kicker: we already have in place the onerous system described in the opposition's hysterical lies. However, that onerous system isn't operated by the evil big brother (liberal) government. No... it's operated by those politicians' favorite panacea: the so-called "free" market.

Forget the dishonesty. Here's how it really works. Health insurance companies right now, today

• tell physicians which procedures can and can't be performed
  
  
• monitor treatments and 'guide' your doctor's decisions
  
  
• are a health care rationing board - providing direction, monitoring, and guiding...
  
  
• have bureaucrats who get between the patient and the doctor
  
  
• ration health care by rationing the payments to medical care providers
  
  
• ration health care based on the patient's ability to pay premiums (and deductibles and co-payments)
  

The problem with the so-called "free market" solutions is that decisions tend to be based on the insurance company's short-term bottom line. How much can we get and hold on to this year, this quarter? How much will the executives' bonuses be?

In practice, that becomes a negative view of living up to the money-handler's end of the the agreement. When an insurance company accepts payments for premiums, it agrees to pay claims according to the terms of the policy. However, the industry has a term for paying claims for care provided under the terms of the insurance policy:

Payments on legitimate claims for health care services and goods are called "Medical Losses."

That is like the unimaginable situation in which a retailer says that when you walk out the door with the groceries for which you paid - it's an "Inventory Loss" - something to be avoided.

In reality, the grocer is thrilled to see you paying and then heading for the parking lot. The transaction is not a loss for the grocer - it's an exchange of goods and services for cash... kind of like the real "free market." It boggles the mind to imagine a store trying to get you to pay for the groceries but preventing you from taking the food home.

Insurance companies used to be proud that they paid claims as agreed. [Trust me on this - I used to work in the industry] Now medical insurance companies

• routinely risk having customers (medical patients) die by stalling on approval of medical procedures
  
  
• withhold payments as long as possible - thus adding to the costs of medical care providers; those costs gets passed on to the consumer
  
  
• look for loopholes (even ones that don't exist) to hang on to money that should be - under terms of the policy - paid promptly
  

If you think I'm making that up, try a Google search - or ASK YOUR DOCTOR!

If health insurance companies were in dire financial straits, those actions would be understandable (although still wrong). But.... the health insurance companies - and their partners in crime, the pharmaceutical industry - are second only to energy companies in profitability. Insurers have no excuse for dodging their responsibilities.

The 'just say no' politicians are fighting hard to support an industry's unethical practices while blaming those unethical practices on the entities which are there to try to improve all components of health services: providers, technology, information, payers, and most of all, patients.

Their concern is not the well-being of the people who actually pay the bills or of the people and businesses that provide the goods and services. All they want to do is perpetuate a status quo that is rigged.

Health care should be one of the top priorities for our nation.What we need is

• free, open, honest discussions of the real issues
• discussions based on facts rather than on lies
• a medical care system that works for patients
• a medical care system that rewards honoring agreements - kind of like the way a real free market is supposed to work
  

see famous look-a-like faces

There is a group fanatics called "hypermilers." These nut cases try to squeeze every possible mile out of the fuel they put into their cars. See them in action at http://www.hypermiling.com/ To hear these whackos, you'd think that money doesn't grow on trees, that we shouldn't waste fuel - even though we can.

Ignore those looneys! Here are some tips to help you save on driving costs (and steralthily emulate their bizarre ways).

We'll skip the obvious:
• go easy on the gas pedal
• avoid necessary driving
• use cruise control
• keep tires properly inflated (save up to 5 cents/mile for fuel plus longer tire life)
• drive a gas-sipping car

Let's look at the not-so-obvious:
• Turn off the engine instead of letting it idle unnecessarily. "For modern, fuel-injected vehicles, the break-even point for turning off the engine and then restarting it right before traffic begins to flow may be as little as 10 seconds, even when considering extra wear on the starter motor, battery and other components."¹ At the drive-up window, turn off the engine while exchanging money for that artery-clooging snack. You'll save money - and the guy inside the window - the one in the funny hat - will appreciate not having inhale your car's exhaust.
• Say 'thanks, but no thanks' to the E85 ethanol. Alcohol contains less energy per unit (per gallon) than gasoline. That means that it takes more ethanol or ethanol-mix (like E85) to go the same distance. The EPA says you'll get about 7 mpg less with E85 (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) than with 100 percent gas.
• If your car needs premium fuel, buy premium fuel. Going on the cheap here will cost you. Lower octane fuel forces the engine to work harder to achieve the same performance. According to Lexus, using 87-octane fuel in its vehicles that require 91 octane will reduce fuel mileage by about 6 mpg. Note: the opposite is not necessarily true. Using premium when regular is OK will not improve performance significantly.
• Plan your trips. Engines use the least fuel when operating most efficiently. Maximum efficiency requires that the engine be warmed up. Think about ways to get - and keep - the engine warmed up. For example, on an errand trip with many stops, drive first to your furthest destination and make your other stops on the way home.
• Think: maintenance. This is a big one!
  • A clogged air filter wastes fuel. Change it as needed (check your auto's owner's manual).
  • That "check engine" light.... it usually means that the oxygen sensor needs replacing. Of course, you could ignore the light, or (I love this one) cover it with a piece of black tape so that darned light doesn't annoy you.
  • On well-built cars, your suspension will never need alignment - unless you ram curbs (and other cars). But an out-of-spec will burn more fuel ... and eat up your tires
  • Use the proper engine lubricating oil. Too-heavy an oil stresses the engine into using more fuel. What's the proper fuel? RTFM. It's in your car's owner's manual.
• Forego the bric-a-brac. Non-stock exterior add-ons will simultaneously increase wind resistance and fuel consumption. Wings, roof racks, running boards, fender flares, brush guards, and the like add to your fuel costs. You could take off the ski rack in the summer²....

¹ edmunds.com
² Surfers (wave surfers) can ignore this. One never knows when King Neptune will send a present, in the form of good waves. Year-round board racks are a necessity - for those Surf's Up! emergencies. It's a trade-off - waste gas, preserve sanity. Surfers (wave riders, not keyboard jockies) know what I mean: sometimes you have to leave some carbon footprints in the line-up.

see famous look-a-like faces

Instructions:

1. Print a copy of this receipt. Using a color printer will add the the authenticity.
   
2. Carefully trim it, also for authenticity.
   
3. Take it to a friend's house.
4. Leave it laying around, only partly concealed - to make sure his wife finds it before he does.
5. Watch as the hilarity ensues.
   

The recent Israeli attacks on Gaza destroyed the infrastructure Hamas had built. Their tunnels were bombed shut, safe houses leveled, leaders killed, and arms factories reduced to rubble.

Because Israel didn't destroy them completely, Hamas declared victory ... and asked for bailout money and corporate jets, seaside retreats, and bonuses for their leaders.