FB quizzes

I'm starting to detect a pattern here. The last quiz, I got 80%, and, "lost" to someone who took the same quiz, and got the same answers in something like 2 seconds. There's a time limit? Where does it say that? I didn't get that message.

Do you fly, Delta? Long distances, when you get to fly on 767's, or MD10's (I think those are the ones. I've seen so many airplanes in the last ten years, I can't keep them straight)? And you have the entertainment screen in the back of the seat in front of you? Do you know about this?

Well last year, when we took the kids and went to Paris, my son and I had a good time on the trivia game. But I started to notice something when we were flying home. The computer keeps score for the WHOLE plane. And I was getting all the answers right, but LOSING the game! WTF?

I started to notice that my son was scoring 600 points for a right answer, and I was getting 300, and I didn't know why. He was getting only a FEW right answers, but he was getting more points. Until I figured out that scoring quickly was more important than reading the whole question, and considering the possible answers, and getting it right.

So I asked him to take the quiz with me, and do what he had been doing, just guessing, and hoping it would be right, quickly (after all, he was 12. He didn't know all the answers. Hell, he didn't even know most of the questions! He's 12. I'm 50. He's just goofing, and hoping!) and we would see who would score higher. He beat me.

So, if you have a time limit, you have set it up so that the guy who just randomly guesses, but does it fast, beats the guy who actually reads the question, considers the answers, and picks the right one.

Trivial Pursuit, this is NOT! They don't want you to test your knowledge. They want to keep you entertained.

I'm going to be on an airplane for most of 24 hours on the 15th of February. And I might take the quizzes. But I'll be happy with scoring 100%, even if I don't win. I know how it works now.

Even on FB. This is why, "Math Sucks" and I could score 100%, and still only score better than 99% of the folks who took the quiz. It's timed. Who knew?

Good speech by our, President tonight. He talked like a, Democrat. Now, can he make it happen? I hope so.

Stupid stuff

One stupid thing I witnessed, one I DID today. No politics, no sports. Just observations of life. What, George Carlin used to call, "OH, Yeah!" humor. Meaning, you had been there and done that.

Today I write a check to pay my Visa bill at my local credit union. I'm very sure to write the name of the CU on the line, the right date, and on the, "money" line, I write, "One thousand, one hundred and ...." and I double check it. Because I've written a check to my wife where I MEANT to write, "six hundred dollars" and wrote, "Six and 00/100 Dollars" just being in a hurray.

On the memo line I write, "Account # 4********* VISA PAYMENT". That, should, about cover it.

When I pull up to the drive up window, the nice young lady says to me, "What can I do for you today?" And my answer is, and I speak, English pretty well, "Just making a Visa Payment." And I send the check through the tube. WHOOSE!

Not a minute later, she says, "You wanted this in savings?" I shit you not. Now, I know these folks are busy, but, "did you READ the check?" WTF?

So I say to her, "No, it's to go on the fifth race at, Hollywood Park. Bet it all on, "She's A Dumb ass" to, SHOW!"

I felt like, Bill Engval. "Here's Your Sign".

"Yes, Visa Payment. Please."

Not ten minutes later. It's fading between sunlight, and overcast in the Salt Lake Valley today. I'm wearing a zip up, "REDWINGS" hoodie, and sunglasses. Black, driving gloves. And just as I pull up to the liquor store, the snow starts to blow again, so I pull the hoodie up over my head just before I ENTER the liquor store.

Oh, what, was, I, thinking? Every employee in there takes one look at me, and their next look is to the nearest, "panic button alarm".

I pull of the hood as quick as possible, and say, "Hey! How are ya?" to the employees I see in there all the time, and the Cops did NOT show up and have me, "Felony Prone" when I came out. Pretty dumb for a guy who USED to BE a COP! Walk into a liquor store like a guy who was there to rob it!

What was I thinking?

We all make mistakes. I'll try to be a little more tolerant of bank tellers, if the folks at the liquor store won't have me shot. Just sayin...

Butters, again

I haven't seen, 8: The Mormon Proposition, that debuted at, Sundance tonight. So I have no idea if it's accurate, crazy, biased, or what. But I have seen, Chris Butters in action. Many times.

Tonight, after the premier, he was interviewed on KUTV, channel 2 news, live. And when asked if he stood buy his comments that were shown in the interview he did for the movie he didn't answer the question. He tried to deflect attention to the movie makers.

He said, "These people showed up wearing, BYU t-shirts, and talking about Missions." So? If you say hateful and bigoted things about someone, just because you think you are talking to people who are as bigoted and hateful as you, does it make it right?

If, Butter's is telling the truth, and I have no reason to doubt him, then shame on the filmmakers for trying to, "get over" on the rube from, West Jordan. That was wrong.

Of course, some of them might have been Gay, and they went to, BYU, and served Missions. Like THAT ever happens? Right?

Be that as it may, Utah State Senator Chris Butters is a bigot, and an hate monger. And a complete moron. And the people of West Jordan continue to show their true colors by electing him, and validate my decision years ago to move out of that place, and back to a town much more tolerant.

Can't wait to see the documentary. I'm sure, Sonia Eddings Brown (I think that's the name she's using. In college, she was just, Sonia Eddings) will be in it. I worked with her at KUER doing news. She was an idiot, and a prima dona. She sang the, "Let Motor Sports Land, let you get away..." jingle for a commercial in about 1979, and brought the tape to the station and made us all listen to it, incessantly! What a nut job.

hopeforhaiti.com

This was quite and event. Lots of singers I didn't recognize, after all, I'm 51. But still, good effort by the entertainment industry, to help those less fortunate. I was in tears at some of the stories.

Heck, even, "The Material Girl", Madonna showed up. Thank you, Madge!

Who didn't show up? "Faux News."

MSNBC was there. Comedy Central delayed their Friday night comedy programs. HBO? Check. CNN? Check. "Faux News"? Not, so, much.

You say, "Compassionate Conservative! I say, BULLSHIT!"

Who can turn your back on these, poor, miserable, victims in favor of showing, Hannity, and his ilk, spewing their hatred for the President (and not the one who got us into two wars we didn't need to fight) when there is a legitimate, global, crisis in our mitts? Only, "Faux News", Roger Ailles, and his boss, Rupert Murdoch.

Oh, and the, Spam sucking, trailer trash, uneducated, dumbass, morons who watch, "Faux News".

There. I said it. If you watch, "Faux News" you are a moron. I'm OK with it because it's true.

And I anticipate your response will be: Go back to France! God hates you! You're some kind of a Communist! But you won't capitalize, "Communist".

And I don't believe in, God. And he doesn't get a vote in the next election.

Start reading newspapers, and quit watching, "Faux News", and you might get it someday. But I doubt it. Because if you all went to college at all, you went to a, "University" that has a, Suite Number and not a campus. And that's not REALLY a college. And sure as hell, ain't a, "University".

Haiti, again

Is, Rush Limbaugh the biggest jerk ever? What a moron.

Don't give? Because it's gong to support our, new, President? WTF?

How can, Republicans be THIS dumb? I have no clue how these people can be this dumb, or stupid, or insensitive.

But, that's what you get when you throw your lot in with people who believe in an imaginary friend, who lives in the sky. If you are THAT stupid, well, I'm just sayin...

"You goin' to, Haiti, Mon!"

Have you ever been on a cruise in the Caribbean? A friend of mine, who used to be a flight attendant described the clientele like she did those on a flight to, Hawaii: "The Newly Wed, and, The Nearly Dead." And she is right. The last one we did was in about 2002 when were in our early/mid forties, and we were the mode, the median, and the mean, statistically, of this group of people. Everyone was MUCH younger, or MUCH older.

The table we were assigned to have dinner at each evening included a very old couple from, Tennessee. The husband had married his brother's widow. And a couple from somewhere in, New England who were in the furniture business. Made sure we knew they had lots of money, but didn't appear to have a lot of education or class. The wife had a very obnoxious, and loud voice, and tried to impress us by telling us of her collection of, Kincaid Paintings.

So before you accuse me of looking at, Haiti from the perspective of some rich guy on a cruise ship, I'll tell you that I didn't have any money then, I was still a working stiff at the DOC. And almost without exception, the folks on the ships are pretty Conservative. I'll let the, "Kincaid Paintings" reference speak to their class, education and taste (all in their mouths).

But, even though it was for one day, and on a beach owned by a cruise line, I can say I have been to, Haiti. The cruise line ("It's not a ship. It's The Love Boat!" you would hear every morning for announcements) called the stop, "Labadee Island, Hispaniola". I'd looked at some maps, and I didn't think that it was an island, and I knew, "Hispaniola" was the name of the island containing both, Haiti and, The Dominican Republic, and was, probably, the first island, Columbus landed on on his first expedition in 1492. Why then, didn't they say, "Haiti" in the brochure? Because if you're first stop in this country was, Nogales, Arizona the tour company might describe it as, Nogales, USA. Trying to play down the boarder drug war, poverty, and heat.

Deb and I had checked into the ship, then went back into Miami to look around. We took a taxi back to the ship, and I noticed that the drivers license posted in the cab said he was from, Haiti, so I asked him about, Labadee, and why it was called, Hispaniola? He just chuckled for a minute, and said, "You goin' to, Haiti, Mon!" and laughed some more. I didn't REALLY understand until we got there.

Jump to this week. I finally looked it up on, Google Earth and, Labadee is NOT an island. It's a peninsula. It has beautiful beach, clear, warm water, and the cruise line makes sure it's clean, and neat, and you have every possibility for water sports and entertainment you could want, including cheap beer, and entertaining waiters who are happy to put you're every need on your cruise card. And you're not bothered by the locals.

A short walk off the beach is the little town of, Labadee. Recent pictures on, Google Earth tell a very different story than the one my wife and I saw many years ago. Now it's, "quaint". Then? Not so much.

Broken down stores run by beaten down people. Scary sanitary conditions in food outlets. Too many people all asking for money at one time. They would sell you local rum for $30us a bottle (which was outrageous, considering the bottles were corked, and you couldn't be sure WHAT was in there). They would also sell you, Absinthe, which at the time was illegal in the US. We bought a couple of paintings for, like, $4 and went back to the ship.

I feel very sorry for the people of, Haiti this week. Because life is tough when you have nothing, and even tougher when life takes that away from you. The people of, Labadee are, no doubt, much better off than the folks in, Port Au Prince, since the quake was very localized, but still, the whole country is in dire straits, while the other half of the island is very prosperous. Why is that?

Well, the whole area is a product of Colonialism, and the constant jesting between European Powers for control of the Sugar Cane and the shipping lanes. The history is there for anyone to read. It's not a plot by the Obama Administration, as, Rush Limbaugh said. It's not, "God's Will" as that, ass clown, Pat Robertson thinks. It's piss poor management, and not being ready for a disaster. Just like the Bush Administration handled, Katrina in, New Orleans. But worse.

Between the dictators ("Papa Doc", and his son, "Baby Doc" Duvalier) this country didn't stand a chance. Even when they were ousted, the common and ordinary corruption in most Third World Country's would have doomed many of them. This country has been independent from, France since the mid 1800's and yet they have only one jet ready runway, and one deep port dock in the ENTIRE COUNTRY!? WTF? I think we all know where the money that would have been spent for THAT went!

I think this horrible natural disaster (NO! It's not, "God's Will") as bad as it is, may offer a possible, "do over" for the whole country. Start the society over. Rebuild the country. Make it a show place, with safe cities, and the possibility of tourism. It isn't going to be pretty, but the chance is there.

The first thing they need to do, is burn the body's. I know it sounds awful, but tonight there are reports of body's being used as barricade's to stop trucks of supplies. The worst thing that could happen right now is an outbreak of dysentery because of all of the dead. It's a horrible thing, but it's the only, real, practical solution. You can't let your religious belief's get in the way of preventing an outbreak of disease that would kill the whole country, and all of the people WE have sent there to help.

Next, don't save the buildings. Bulldoze the mess into the sea, build a new port, and start over. With building codes that actually get enforced! Unreinforced, concrete block buildings are common in, "The Carib". The stand up to hurricanes. But not at six stories tall! And they don't do well in earthquakes. And, if anyone needs reminding, this is an earthquake zone.

We haven't had a big quake in SLC for, well, ever! But we know it can occur on a fault zone, and prepare accordingly.

Next, let the United Nations take over running the country on a short term basis. Declare, Marshall Law until the crisis has passed. And give them the authority to arrest and detain. There are 10K different charitable organizations now operating in, Haiti, and even with that, they can't get anything done to change the whole mess? Put one organization in charge. Maybe, if there were only 2K NGO's, using all the resources that the 10K are using, they could get something done? Just sayin...

Within a year, ask, beg, cajole, plead with, France to take control of the country until they can establish enough of an infrastructure to assure clean water, good roads, relieable electricity and fair, honest, and open voting. Backed up by a national army and police force that actually will do the job.

I know, the, Sarah Pailn fans out there are saying, "WE have the best Democracy in the world! We know how to, Nation Build! They are closer to us, we should make them like Guam, or Puerto Rico!" Yeah, yeah. I hear ya.

First off, WE, don't speak the language. This is a, French speaking country. Secondly, their heritage is French. Thirdly, we are fighting two wars, recovering from a major recession, and can't even be civil enough to EACH OTHER to get a health plan in place. How are we going to remake a country with 150 years of poverty and civil unrest? Do you really want us to take that on? I think not.

Donate to the, Red Cross. Or, Helping Hands for Haiti, and do it quickly. For a short time, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express have agreed to waive all processing fees (meaning they don't take a part of your donation as they usually do. So bless them for this).

Ethics/Gerrymandering petitions

I'd like to sign the petitions to make the, Republican, right wing, Legislature in this state have to have some ethics reform. I'd also like to sign the one to have a bi-partisan committee draw up the Legislative Districts, etc. but as of yet, I haven't seen one. Where the heck can you find these people?

When we were trying to repeal the, Republican sponsored, and, "Overstock.com" financed assault on our public schools to fund religious schools for nut balls with public money, those petitions showed up EVERYWHERE! I signed at my son's little league tryouts. These new ones? Not so much.

Did you all read the Orrin Hatch/ "Biker Mark" Shurtliff column that called the Federal Government's attempt to give us some real health care reform, unconstitutional in yesterdays paper? Give me a break. Two lawyers who don't know anything about the law making that assertion? I guess the Fed's telling me to buy health insurance, ANY health insurance I can afford, is WAY different than being required to have car insurance if you have a car. This required by the State. And, I assume, as it's been in effect for a while now, it's constitutional?

It's funny how the more Conservative the nut ball, the more they scream, "Unconstitutional" when someone passes a law THEY disagree with. But when they pass obviously, unconstitutional, and stupid, intrusive laws trying to regulate abortion or your cable TV channels, what kind of sex you can have between consenting adults, who you can marry (since that's sanctioned by the State and gives you things like, "tax breaks" and inheritance rights. And doesn't affect CHURCHES!) they yell about, "Activist Judges" when, "The Constitution" gets in their way. Selective law interpretation is a, Republican trait they just can't give up.

When they do it, it's upholding our, God given rights. When they lose, it's, "Activist Judges".

No it's not. It's Judges who went to real law schools (not, BYU, or, "Liberty University") who actually know how to interpret, The Constitution. And understand that it protects the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Even if the Majority doesn't LIKE it!

The same Constitution that lets you practice your religion, no matter how goofy, allows me to not HAVE to live under laws inspired by your, goofy religion! An example? I live in Utah, but because of the Constitution, I don't HAVE to wear, "Magic Underwear" and since liquor is legal in this country, I can still buy a bottle of bourbon here. Were all this stuff up to the, "Majority" in any state, I couldn't. And around here, I wouldn't have satellite TV either. It would be like, China, or Cuba (and I've been to Cuba, so I know) where they don't want any outside information that would make you question authority, to be able to get in.

Orrin, Mark, please, just go away. Orrin, go write songs that no one wants to hear. If it makes you happy, it's, "Constitutionally Protected" if you make bad, records. Mark, take care of your family business, get better from your crash, and quit trying to be more Conservative than the next guy. You have a law degree (although I don't know where from, but I'm assuming your educated enough to know when you have crossed the, "sensible" line) and you know, in your heart of hearts, that some of the shit you have come up with over the last few years is just, plain, crazy. You really can't be the right wing nut ball you think you have to be to get out of convention in Utah. Or, actually, KNOW you have to be, any more.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that you are happy, no matter your disposition, or political affiliation. It's a new start for everyone.

I hope, Orrin Hatch dies or quits running for office. Because he's a nutball. I hope, Jim Matheson dies, too. Or quits running for office, since he's not a, Democrat. He's just an asshole who wants to STAY elected.

I hope, President Obama will issue an executive order to end, "Don't ask, don't tell" and let, Gay People serve their country. Because no one woke up and, "Decided" to be, GAY!

I hope the final health care bill includes a, Public Option. That will be REAL change we can believe in.

I hope that the Public Employees in Utah can finally realize that the, "R's" don't have their best interest's at heart, and start voting for, Democrats. But I'm not holding my breath, because most of them are stupid. Like that moron, Ti that works for Corrections.

You can't change, stupid. If you believe, "Faux News" and you only buy your books at, Costco, you are an idiot. Sarah Palin? Please. She is stupid as the day is long.