Not A Mystery
Rant
Thinking Outside The Exercise Bottle, You’re Never Too Thin
Some days it’s hard to tell if your glass is half empty or half full. (Politicians can get pretty creative when they describe the state-of-the-glass, but that’s why they take get the big bucks.) But for me today is a really good day. I am proclaiming my “glass at least half full”. In fact it’s exactly … Continue reading
It’s Time To Regulate The Soapbox
I have a modest proposal for the health care debate. Only those of us who have actually shopped for an Individual Health Insurance Policy would be allowed to get up on their soapbox and let fly with their opinions. This leaves out all current member of Congress; any retired members of Congress who served more … Continue reading
Obamacare Gets A Haircut
I usually don’t mind waiting to get my hair cut. But today was a little out of the ordinary. The fellow ahead of me, who I’ll call Randy, felt called upon to deliver a lecture on Obamacare and how the President is directing the government to take over our lives. It was quite a rant, and Randy clearly … Continue reading
Muppet Taxpayer Triumphs Over The IRS
[Disclaimer: Since starting up the blog again, my goal has been to avoid posts that ranted against the daily insanity visited upon us by our institutions. But after filing my 2011 taxes that goal has been set aside for today.] This from my inbox, where I am being Congratufuckinglated for having the IRS Accept my … Continue reading
To Bundle Or Not To Bundle, That Is The Question
Airlines and Cable Networks, two of our most popular industries today. If you ignore the Banks. Sign up for Cable and you get more channels than you need or want. You’ve been bundled. Get on an Airline and nothing is included in the price of your ticket. You’ve been unbundled. And yet, as a consumer, … Continue reading
Airlines Will Run Out Of Fees, But Only When Pigs Can Fly
It is entirely possible that Airlines will soon revoke the law of diminishing returns. And I’m not talking about their profits, but instead their ability to come up with new ways to tack on charges. United Airlines has just begun to offer a new ‘service’, which they’ve dubbed Premier Line. Board the airplane sooner and get earlier … Continue reading
What Does A Verizon Moment Feel Like?
Talk about being “in the zone”. The final episode of Mad Men (Season 1) shows Don Draper coining the word Carousel for the gizmo that holds the slides on Kodak’s slide projector. And creating the Kodak Moment campaign to sell memories instead of hardware. Which got me thinking about what could top this bit of … Continue reading
Missing Front License Plates, With Just A Tad Of Respectability
The careful observer will have noted that the Bentley we saw in Santa Barbara last week was not sporting a front license plate. Wassup with that? My (protected) sources tell me that this is a (well known) trick used to disguise cars in case they are photographed by a traffic camera. The risk of spending $25 … Continue reading
Supersized Seats, Coming To A Theater Near You
What do theatre owners and airline executives have in common? Nothing. Well, actually they do both provide their services to seated customers, which should imply some sort of similarity. But in practice nothing of the sort. While the airlines constantly shrink their seats and services, theatre owners at least have a different take on customer … Continue reading
If You Can’t Trust Big Box Anymore, Who Can You Trust?
We all know that Big Government, Big Oil, Big Tobacco and Big Bank cannot be trusted. But I’ve always thought I could trust Big Box. Not any more. Up until now I had written off ever-shrinking product packaging evilness to manufacturer’s greed. You know, charge the same price but put less ‘stuff’ in the box. … Continue reading
Volcker Rule Gives Investment Banks A “Woodie”
The US Congress is getting close to passing new financial regulation, attempting to rein in our friends on Wall Street. Pending legislation would limit Investment Banks’ ability to trade for their own accounts, and effectively bar them from trading derivatives. The bankers are pushing back. Surprised? The big banks argue that the Volcker proposal is … Continue reading
