Me, puzzled: oooooookkkk…

Daughter (same gruff voice): and I’m grumpy! I’m a grumpy remote control!

Me, scratching head: oooooookkkk…

Daughter (gruffer still): and you can’t cross my bridge!!

Me: oooo -oh wait! hahaha you mean you’re a grumpy *troll*!! hahahaha

Daughter: yeah! And you can’t go *under* my bridge either!

In their infinite (*cough* knee-jerk) wisdom they’ve decided to “let pilots and airlines determine whether in-flight entertainment systems that show a plane’s location should be turned off to avoid a security risk” because as we all know, terrorists are too stupid to look out the window. Next they’ll stop announcing that they’re starting their initial descent and offering estimates of how soon the plane will be landing. And if that doesn’t work, they can always glue the window shades down, you know, in an attempt to avoid a security risk.

Since there’s no way to stop someone from hearing the landing gear going down or looking out the window, or using their watch for that matter to estimate location, perhaps the TSA should implement mandatory anesthesia.

A taskbar that allows you to stick icons of your fave apps to launch them quickly, “combining the best features of the old Windows taskbar and Apple’s Dock”.
Really? “launch them quickly”? Launch them quickly. Launch them quickly… waaaait a minute! You mean like the Quick Launch portion of the existing taskbar?? Does the reviewer not know this feature has existed for quite some time, or is Microsoft trying to sell this as new to Windows 7?

File folders can now be organized into “libraries.” You can have a photo library, for instance, that gives you quick access to pictures in folders spread out over your hard drive, or even several hard drives.
I’m sorry, you mean like creating a folder on your desktop and then in that folder adding shortcuts to the folders…. spread… out… over… your… hard… drive(s)…. oh right. Yeahhhhh, ummmm… forgot that you could already do that.

Like Vista, Windows 7 will ask you twice if you really want to make changes to your settings or install programs, for the sake of security. But Windows 7 does it less often, and the prompts can be turned off.
Are we seriously this desperate to find good things to say about Windows 7? “We’ll still bug the shit out of you asking ‘Are you sure? Yeah but are you really sure?’ but we’ll do it slightly less often!”

Windows 7 has implemented more touch screen-like functionality.
Great for those of you who have touch screens or touch pads! The other 95% of us don’t give a rat’s ass.

And of course, the usual litany of “if you (can) upgrade we’ll make it as painful as possible AND break as much as we can”:

• Windows 7 is 64-bit, so some of your hardware drivers may no longer work. Kiss your old workhorse printer goodbye.
• Upgrading from XP involves reinstalling every single app you HAD installed and “find[ing your] files in the folder where Windows 7 tucks them away”. Not much incentive to upgrade, now is there? I don’t intend on spending a few days reinstalling the gargantuan number of apps I currently have installed. I dread the task when I purchase a new PC or have to replace a hard drive, I’m certainly not going to willingly do it for virtually NO gain.

New features? Not so much. More like Microsoft holding the hand of the less technically savvy of us and trumpeting it as a good reason to drop a wad of cash – $120 to upgrade. And as usual error messages are obscure and troubleshooting from the website provided no answer to the problem (at least in one reviewer’s experience). And oh yeah, the reviewer noted an increase in boot time. His suggestion? Don’t power down, just start using sleep mode. WTF? I’ve run out of band-aids.

When I finally managed to catch a break and was able to cut over into the next lane to pass (waiting rather impatiently while the rest of traffic blew past me doing 70+) inevitably it was an elderly driver I glared at. This includes the lady who refused to accelerate past 40mph all the way up the freeway on-ramp; despite the fact that the on-ramp was completely straight and went for at least 150 meters. She’s still doing 40 for all I know, as when I finally swerved over a lane and joined traffic doing 65 she was still doing 40.

This opinion article lists a series of tax credits Mr. Obama proposes. These credits include college tuition, child-care, clean car, mortgage interest, etc. First we talk about the middle-class, then we throw out the tantalizing statement that “…more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all.” Then we read the following:

“Here’s the political catch. All but the clean car credit would be “refundable,” which is Washington-speak for the fact that you can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer — a federal check — from taxpayers to nontaxpayers. Once upon a time we called this “welfare,” or in George McGovern’s 1972 campaign a ‘Demogrant.’ Mr. Obama’s genius is to call it a tax cut.

The Tax Foundation estimates that under the Obama plan 63 million Americans, or 44% of all tax filers, would have no income tax liability and most of those would get a check from the IRS each year. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis estimates that by 2011, under the Obama plan, an additional 10 million filers would pay zero taxes while cashing checks from the IRS.”

Now again, leaving the political arguments out of it – yes some of it could be considered welfare, but that aside, what’s wrong with providing middle-income families with tuition or child-care tax “credits”? Anywho, here’s what I find really misleading… let’s break it down:

“…you can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer — a federal check — from taxpayers to nontaxpayers.”
After opening salvos (a couple of paragraphs) revving you up to think about the poor… welfare… “demogrants”, this statement immediately gets your dander up thinking people are getting a free ride. Why those no-good nontaxpayers! 1972… welfare… whyyyy I oughta! Whaddya think you’re doin’ there Mr. Obama? You can’t fool ME calling these “tax credits”!

“The Tax Foundation estimates that under the Obama plan 63 million Americans, or 44% of all tax filers, would have no income tax liability and most of those would get a check from the IRS each year.”
44%? FORTY-FOUR PERCENT?!! Most not paying taxes but getting a check back anyway?! THE OUTRAGE! But… wait… didn’t… aren’t… waaaaait just a minute! Something’s not right here… back the truck up.

You got me thinking about low-income folks and those who “…already pay no income taxes at all”, then said “no income-tax liability” and threw in the word “welfare” just to make sure I was thinking about those folks, so maybe I wouldn’t question what you meant by “no income-tax liability”. And in my outrage I missed that you said 44% of all tax filers. We’re no longer talking about just low-income folks, are we? Youuuu! Youuuuu! You had me going there for a minute. What you’re REALLY saying is that anyone who doesn’t have to file due to a low enough income (which doesn’t just mean the poor!) and anyone due a tax refund! I’ve got news for you buddy: “nontaxpayer” and “no income-tax liability” are NOT interchangeable terms!

So which is it? Are we talking nontaxpayers or people who don’t owe and/or have overpayed (no income-tax liability)? Talk about a “clever pitch”. Talk about an “illusion”.

2 drinks
Anytime she says the word “Mavericks” when referring to herself and John McCain.

3 drinks
Anytime she responds to a question but completely sidesteps answering it.

—————————————————————————————————————————

Anytime she suggests she has foreign policy experience simply due to Alaska’s geographic proximity to Russia and Canada.
Finish your drink. Get another. Finish it too. Repeat until blotto and maybe she’ll start making sense.

Palin on Foreign Policy

I have some Canadian pennies in my pocket… and hey! my neighbors are expat Brits… and they sometimes walk down the street, and in order to do that, where do they walk? Right past my house – so I must have foreign policy experience!!

Consider me a write-in!

On the heels of this influx, BART has decided to investigate raising fares yet again; considering a fare hike against those who use BART during commute hours. Showing that the intelligence of the common man (woman in this case) trumps that of those running BART, rider Cathy Torres suggested lowering prices during non-commute hours rather than raising them for peak commute, as anyone with children or any basic common sense would be able to tell you as Torres states, “incentives are far more likely to succeed than penalties”.

To be fair BART has made several attempts to clean up its act however its list of woes is as long as Svetlana Pankratova’s legs (now how’s that for a pop-culture reference?!)

Fellow riders, if you thought BART had problems before, in the immortal words of Al Jolson, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

This one made the house shake for several long seconds.