Life in diatribe

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

AIG!!! ARRGH! (also, some asides on such things as dick cheney's vicitm status)

me: On a different note, I think maybe the problem with AIG comes down to the fact that despite all of our anger, we treated these people as if they were basically hard working people who are either dumb or just big screw-ups. Such a person might actually decide to not take bonus money. AIG execs, however, are clearly criminals, they behave like thieves and will continue to until someone stops them (hopefully by sending them to jail).

8:38 AM Manny: Andrew Cuomo dropped the subpoenas yesterday
38 minutes

9:16 AM me: that's what I'm talking about

9:17 AM me: cuomo is ready to prosecute everyone, which I love

9:21 AM Manny: I told my running buddy thomas early monday a.m. that if Cuomo really wants to be governor, he'll have subpoenas ready today and he did. way to go andy

9:24 AM me: indeed

9:45 AM me: From Open Left, a good example of still not understanding the actual problem. These guys may be right about Geithner and Summers, but they still don't seem to get it.
They're all criminals!

9:48 AM Manny: If you want to get pissed, read the thumb-sucker in the NY Times about the sanctity of contracts and why we can't violate them, except when poor people like autoworkers are concerned

9:51 AM me: You mean this one? Outrageous
At least at Open Left they have that part right. Obviously we should do something about it and not let them steal our money.

9:57 AM Manny: yes, that guy can bite my gnards
I'd like him to honor a contract with my ass
9:58 AM what world does that moron live in?

me: that's very eloquent of you
I don't know, he just thought someone needed to speak out for the little guy
ha
ha
ha
ha

9:59 AM Manny: sometimes, people are so wrong there's no need to argue intelligently
It's like how I argue with Ayn Rand: No.

10:00 AM me: exactly. you are just wrong
100% wrong

Manny: exactly
otherwise, why would you appeal equally to 50-something fat white executives and 17-year-old girls?
The two most self-justifying groups of idiots in the world?

10:01 AM me: ha

Manny: I used to use Ayn Rand as a dating eliminatory
eliminator

10:02 AM Manny: "Have you ever read the Fountainhead? It's sooooo goooooof"
pardon me, but we will not be having sex

me: automatic disqualification

10:04 AM Manny: I know everyone likes to be counter-intuitive and all, but the Times has now written one story saying the bonuses are a big problem... for Obama. And now this. Nice work, times. You're american heroes.

me: ha

10:06 AM Manny: from tomas, just now: I want him to tell a group of Detroit auto worked about the sanctity of a contract

10:11 AM me: exactly. the bullshit is extremely thick. They thought basically that the automakers should throw those greedy workers out on their asses by they I mean the entire republican party and much of the mainstream media

10:13 AM Manny: it was totally accepted that the workers should void their own contracts so management could stay on running the companies into the ground

10:14 AM me: ARRGH!
It's not funny at all, it's like some weird ass modernist tragedy
you know, like Bertolt Brecht or something

10:21 AM Manny: Dan Rooney has just been named Ambassador to Ireland

10:25 AM Manny: And look at this crud

10:27 AM me: You know, I was just thinking that if there was one real victim I should be worried about in the world, it's definitely dick cheney.

10:28 AM Manny: As they say down at the bottom, this is an interview where cheney is calling the president of the U.S. nigger and the concern is whether or not the president is showing enough defference to CHENEY

2:14 PM Manny: Best cartoon ever, now in book formhttp://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/16/get-your-war-on-the-1.html

7 minutes

2:22 PM Manny: On Hurricane Katrina: "How did you celebrate the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina?" "I floated face-down in my pool for a couple days, contemplating all the people who don't give a shit about me." "I went into 'White House Crisis Mode:' I rolled up my sleeves and stuck my thumb up my ass."

20 minutes

2:42 PM me: awesome

2:43 PM Manny: On Pat Robertson claiming that federal judges are a more serious threat to America than Al Qaeda, the 9/11 terrorists, Nazi Germany, Japan and the civil war: "So here's my offer: I'll spend a year in the company of federal judges if Pat Robertson will spend just a year in a Nazi concentration camp. No, wait -- I'll actually fly on a 747 with federal judges if Pat Robertson will fly on a 747 with Islamic terrorists..." "Stop making fun! If you don't...the federal judges have won!"

20 minutes

3:03 PM me: This is all the cartoon you linked to?

I need to know before I invest time in it...

3:05 PM Manny: yes

me: wow

6 minutes

3:11 PM Manny: http://www.mnftiu.cc/category/gywo/war81/

3:13 PM me: this is just sheer genius

who are these people?

3:15 PM Manny: crazy dude started doing this after 9/11, when it seemed like the whole country had gone nuts and everyone was praising bush for standing on rubble with a bullhorn, like he was Vasily Zaitsev

it's just these dudes emailing each other BS all day

hilarious

3:17 PM me: Wow, they are like our more talented twins

3:19 PM Manny: to be fair, he spends a lot more time, you know, thinking

3:20 PM it's a shame, I can't figure out how to skip back to the first entry

You have to go see the early ones

or buy the book, I suppose

me: I'll start working on it.

3:22 PM He has lots of time for thinking whereas you and I have lots of time in at institutions that may possibly be part of some sort of sick experiment on the effects of wrongness on the individual human adult.

People who are better than us

2:14 PM Manny: Best cartoon ever, now in book formhttp://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/16/get-your-war-on-the-1.html

7 minutes

20 minutes

2:42 PM me: awesome

20 minutes

3:03 PM me: This is all the cartoon you linked to?

I need to know before I invest time in it...

3:05 PM Manny: yes

me: wow

6 minutes

3:11 PM Manny: http://www.mnftiu.cc/category/gywo/war81/

3:13 PM me: this is just sheer genius

who are these people?

it's just these dudes emailing each other BS all day

hilarious

3:17 PM me: Wow, they are like our more talented twins

3:19 PM Manny: to be fair, he spends a lot more time, you know, thinking

3:20 PM it's a shame, I can't figure out how to skip back to the first entry

You have to go see the early ones

or buy the book, I suppose

me: I'll start working on it.

Monday, March 16, 2009

the lighter side--man runs naked

Now this is what we should do with all of the execs at AIG--make them run naked on the highway. http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090316_Man_strips_naked__runs_down_Schuylkill_Expressway.html

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Stewart on Cramer

4:36 PM Manny: Yo

4:37 PM me: yo dude

Manny: Buy bear sterns!

me: lol

4:38 PM was he on daily show last night?

or is that tonight?

Manny: I've decided to root for jim cramer

Last night

me: ha

Manny: Check the interwebs

me: how was it

I will

Manny: They're all a-twitter

Stewart sonned him

me: that's not surprising

4:39 PM Manny: But, a la john mccain, expectations were low for cramer

Yes

me: ah yes, the low expectations on a moron

Manny: Cramer at least knew to act sorry

His idiot colleagues still pretend to be journalists on tv

4:40 PM I think duncan black posted it

4:41 PM me: He did, it's about halfway down the page: http://www.eschatonblog.com/

11:20 AM me: so of course they're talking about the daily show on meet the press. Jon Stewart is this week's American hero! (Award presented to any public figure who during the course of the week shows her/him self to NOT BE A MORON)

Manny: why do you watch that crud?

Do the people on meet the press seem like they know anything?

11:21 AM these are the people who brought us CNBC in the first place, not to mention the American Heroicc Adventurous Land War in the Fertile Crescent TM

11:23 AM me: I watch it out of some sort of sick obsession with the horrible.

Manny: like the Family Circus

me: exactly!

11:24 AM Manny: Is General Electric behind the Family Circus too? A truly independant media would answer these questions

11:27 AM me: these and more

11:30 AM

Manny: AIG: $100 million in bonus to the financial products division today

11:36 AM you know, for the people who bankrupted the economy

7 minutes

11:43 AM me: right. they deserve money. What you don't appreciate is that ruining everybody's lives is really really hard work. In order for AIG to attract the high level, negatively advantaged executives they need, they have to pay out huge bonuses.
Did you watch all of the episodes leading up to the showdown? The clips stewart showed are really priceless. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220252&title=cnbc-gives-financial-advice

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Sketchy emails (Scammers? I hate these guys)

So, here's the story, in brief. Recently I received an email from a company claiming to be a collection agency for amazon. Amazon claims to have no knowledge of them. They have my phone number. They call frequently (see conversation and text of email below). They are making me angry.

Anyone have any suggestions?

------Chat with my wife-------
me: The sketchy people called again. I got this info: PO Box 60022 - City of Industry California, 91716
TRS Industries
Costumer Help –
1800-366-2425
What should I do?

Wife: let me look it up and do some googling

but my hunch is you should call amazon and report that information

9:31 AM me: k

9:33 AM Wife: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/161/RipOff0161324.htm

13 minutes

9:46 AM me: what do you make of that?

9:48 AM Wife: i can't figure out if it's a collection agency that you erroneously got reported to or a totaly scam

9:49 AM becuase they keep hanging up on you i think it's a scam

i would try to call amazon and give them the information and see if they can deal with it

9:50 AM i guess when they call again i would say that you have spoken with amazon, your accounts are paid in full and you would appreciate if they stopped calling you.

me: That's basically where I started and they were like, well, the person at Amazon misinformed you.

9:51 AM Wife: that's nute

nuts

so frustrating.

------------------Sketchy Email------------------------

Your Amazon.com Account‏

From:	payments-update@amazon.com (payments-update@amazon.com)
	You may not know this sender.Mark as safe Mark as junk
Sent:	Tue 2/24/09 4:58 PM
To:	Gabriel _____ (MY EMAIL)
Cc:	address-verification@amazon.com (address-verification@amazon.com)

Greetings from Amazon.com.

Amazon.com uses TRS Recovery Services, Inc. ("TRS Recovery Services") to
process customer payments made via electronic bank account transfers.
TRS Recovery Services has been notified that your financial institution
was unable to process a transaction relating to your recent Amazon.com order(s).

 Some of the more common reasons that this may occur include, mis-keying account
numbers and/or routing numbers, omitting digits to account numbers or recent changes
to your financial institution's ABA Routing Number and/or account number structure.
You may be receiving, or have already received, a telephone call from TRS Recovery
Services regarding this issue.  This contact was authorized by Amazon.com.

Most processing errors are correctable with some simple changes to the electronic
funds transfer request.  TRS Recovery Services has a toll-free number you may use
to contact them in order to provide the information necessary to reprocess this
transaction.  This call should take just a few minutes, provided you have your
banking information readily available.

Please call (800)366-1049, Monday through Friday, between the hours of
7:00am to 9:00pm CT, or Saturday between the hours of 8:00am to 5:00pm CT.

Both TRS Recovery Services and Amazon.com appreciate your response and attention
to this matter within the next three business days.  Once you have addressed
this issue with TRS Recovery Services, Inc., please allow two to three business
days for your payment to clear.

Please note that we have placed your Amazon.com account on hold pending
resolution of this matter.  This means that you will not be able to access your
account/order information online.  We will remove the hold from your Amazon.com
account when TRS Recovery Services confirms that the amount in question has been
paid in full.  We appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely,

Account Specialist             
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/