[Hat tip to GeekTyrant.]

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - - the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.
Donald H. Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense

A couple of news items that caught my eye

Naked hikes
Hiking naked in the Swiss Alps! Traipsing around in the altogether seems daffy and not particularly safe. What if you slip and fall? it could make sitting rather uncomfortable. I am not going to even discuss other issues.

Good ol’ fashion hidden prices
Starbucks has opted to change its strategy from being a ubiquitous coffeehouse to little ol' fashion coffeehouse by leaving Frappuccinos and prices off its menu board. A spokeswoman for Starbucks said the changes were aimed at making the store feel more like a coffeehouse. Well, this will surely do that trick because when you can’t see the price, you don’t mind overpaying for coffee and coffee milkshakes.


Ignore right-wing talk show hosts
John McCain’s daughter Meghan has a message for conservative talk-show host Laura Ingraham: “Kiss my fat ass.” Last week, Ingraham mocked McCain on her radio show after the daughter of former GOP presidential nominee John McCain urged Republicans to seek compromise with Democrats. Ingraham called McCain “a Valley Girl gone awry” and a “plus-sized model.”

I guess the ad isn't misleading after all, because I *am* blogging about it. But I saw this magazine ad for Oscar Mayer deli meat, and I thought, "WTF?!?"

I hate to post right on top of the Misanthrope, but this is a must-see for anyone affected by the financial crisis. Which is everyone.



"Jon Stewart made Jim Cramer look like a wounded puppy tonight as the CNBC host joined The Daily Show after a full week of back-and-forth... Stewart's point was that Wall Street got fat off of all our pension plans, 401K's and long-term investments, while the 'Fast Money' crowd cashed in our long-term investments -- and CNBC was complicit in the entire gambit..."

It doesn't fix anything, but it feels good to watch it happen.

BoingBoing told me about this video from Crooks and Liars.

"There are no traffic jams along the extra mile."
Roger Staubach, former football quarterback

You ever wonder why customer service stinks, especially in a place like a large electronics retailer that touts its prices in its name?

Read a couple of their comments and be very worried about what awaits you if purchase a computer, flat screen television, or anything else from this well-trained crew. Maybe automated service is not such a bad thing after all.

Here is the original post.

Anonymous said...

The reason you can't use a reward zone certificate on a purchase less that what the value states on the card is they can't give you cash back for the certificate. If you didn't want to spend your extra dollars then the price could have been marked up to the exact twenty and you would have owed nothing. Of course you would have paid more for it. The reward zone program is used to keep you coming back to Best Buy. And it's pretty stupid for you to say it isn't free. It is free. Yeah you did pay $1000 to get that twenty back but if you went to Walmart and spent that what would you get back? NOTHING. So why bitch about having to spend "few extra cents or dollars"? That's how much a cd just cost you!! And I'm sorry to tell you this but that's how it has always been with the reward zone certificates! It wasn't just taken up now that Cicuit City is going out of business. I'm also sure that Best Buy has noticed that you don't shop there anymore. Like a previous poster said.. you could change the amount you receive at a time. But to be honest I'd rather you still stay away from Best Buy. I'm sure one less person like you shopping there is a plus for them.


Anonymous said...

all you stupid assholes are why we at best buy tend to ignore you or are not willing to help. you bitch about a free, i repeat, FREE service because you expect us to hand you the world. there are guidelines and rules we have to obey and you stupid assholes continually harassing and bitching at us won't make us any more willing to help you. i deal with you jerks every single day at geek squad and it makes me sick knowing i have to come into work and deal with each and every one of you mouth breathers. just shut the fuck up and let us do our job. we're paid to do what our department says, not put up with your bull shit.


Anonymous said...

oh, and if you think just one of you no longer coming into best buy is gonna matter, do you honestly think we notice? we get HUNDREDS upon THOUSANDS of you a week. one of you will not affect us in the least, if anything it gives us a much more pleasurable working environment knowing you won't be coming in to annoy us with your stupid questions, and retarded stories.

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Saw this at Home Depot, and had to snap it with my Treo.

[From McSweeney's]

Mom and Dad keep talking about this recession and I gotta say: it's awesome! Yesterday, I ate pizza for breakfast, mac and cheese and hot-dog cubes for lunch, and then more pizza for dinner! Mom said that I could eat as much McDonald's as I want, and she even offered to leave me there in the ball pit for an entire day while she went and looked for new jobs! Awesome!

Every day after school, I used to go to violin lessons, but now Mom says I don't have to go anymore! This is so awesome because the violin was so boring and my teacher, Mrs. Calabrass, smelled like the attic and didn't let me drink soda! But now I don't have to deal with Mrs. Calabrass or listen to stupid Brahms with her! I hate the attic — but I love this recession!

We'd planned to go to France or something for our family vacation. But now, since it's the recession, we're all going to Gilbert's Goofy Park and playing minigolf and going on the go-karts! And even batting cages maybe, too! I don't think France has any batting cages or go-karts, so this is an amazing, amazing thing! I think if I'm good I can probably eat pizza at Gilbert's Goofy Park! I love pizza and I love this recession!

Dad's been home so much recently and it's been awesome! He just wears underpants and watches sports highlights and eats Cooler Ranch Doritos, which sounds super fun! I have to go to school, so I only get to see him when I get home, but yesterday Dad and I played Xbox together for six hours! He started off pretty good at the games, but each hour he got worse and worse, and soon he started making weird noises! He even started saying his words all slow and jumbled like a crazy man! He's really having a good time in this recession! So am I!

We used to have to drive like a gazillion hours in the car to get to Grandma's weird big blue house with no TV, but now Grandma drives her new house over to us in her new RV! It's amazing! I totally didn't know cars could also be houses and have stoves and have TVs, but they can! Grandma has it all thanks to the recession. And so do I!

Man, I hope this recession never ends. Me and my friends always high-five each other when we hear an older person say, "Not in this economy," because we know it always leads to something awesome for us! This is the best childhood ever! I could live like this for the rest of my life!

I love this recession!