This blog is dedicated to logical Reasoning, political consciousness, religious dialogue, intelligent thoughts, uncommon wisdom, current events, and humor.
I am convinced that Wal-Mart’s board of directors and its marketing department are filled with unintelligent and dim-witted idiots. Only Wal-Mart’s pitiful executives can demonstrate such utter inability to turn this situation into a positive outcome for their company.
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In 1999, Deborah Shank began her job as a Wal-Mart employee stocking shelves in Cape Girardieu, Missouri. A few months later in May of 2000, she was involved in a horrific car accident with a semi-trailer. Suffering severe brain trauma, she drifted in and out of coma and required months of hospitalization. She is now permanently brain damaged, paralyzed, and is confined to a nursing home due to her 24-hour care needs. Her husband, Jim, works 2 jobs to provide for her expensive care.
By all accounts, Wal-Mart’s health plan was prompt in paying her medical expenses which totaled $470,000. Even Mr. Shank admits that much. The Shanks later decided to sue the trucking company. In 2002, they won a $700,000 settlement. After legal expenses, they put the remaining $417,000 of the settlement in a trust fund for Debbie’s long-term care. In 2005, Wal-Mart sued the Shanks for $470,000 – the amount it had paid for her medical expenses. Why? Because the health plan explicitly states that the company can recoup any paid expenses if money is collected from any other source including from litigation.
I don’t want to single out Wal-Mart. This story could have just as easily involved any other corporation in America. Chances are, your company health plan also contains a similar clause. And I am well aware of the reason for such rules. They protect both the company and its insurance outfit against unreasonable burden and double payment. As well, the rules protect other employees against higher premiums by reducing costs.
Watch this video, and then read below why this decision is so pathetically ill-advised.
Wal-Mart is well within it’s legal rights to recoup the money. However, consider the following. Wal-Mart’s net sales in Q3, 2007 was $90 billion. $470,000 is 0.0005% of $90 billion. If you make $60,000 per year, that percentage amounts to $0.31 – yes, 31 cents.
I am convinced that Wal-Mart’s board of directors and its marketing department are filled with unintelligent and dim-witted idiots. Think about it Wal-Mart. This is a golden opportunity for you to get into the hearts and minds of the public. It couldn’t be any easier. How can you possibly turn this into a public relation nightmare for yourself? In 2 minutes, I was able to come up with 2 ideas that would provide your company with tons of positive publicity while benefiting the Shanks at the same time. Surely, your half-brained executives should be able to do better than I can.
Here are my ideas. First, make it clear that Wal-Mart is bound by its legal rules that protect both the company and its employees. However, due to extraordinary circumstances of this case, Wal-Mart would:
Transfer $470,000 from its profits into the health plan. That way, the health plan is not burdened, the Shanks can keep the money, and Wal-Mart can demonstrate the extend to which it cares about its employees.
Start a collection for Debbie. All Wal-Mart employees (around 1 million in the US) who wish to help one of their own can contribute $1 to a Debbie Shank fund. Wal-Mart would collect that money and give to the Shanks on behalf of Wal-Mart and its employees.
Only Wal-Mart’s pitiful executives can demonstrate such utter inability to turn this situation into a positive outcome for their company.
Did I mention that Jim Shank is recovering from Prostate cancer and must also deal with his own medical bills? Did I further mention that Jim divorced Deborah just so that she could receive more Medicaid benefits? Did I also happen to mention that their 18 year old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq last summer? Due to her brain injury and loss of short-term memory, Debbie must be told this sad news every day because she doesn’t remember hearing it from the previous day. Imagine the horrible burden on the family who has to remind her every day of the passing of her son.
You can do the right thing Wal-Mart and, in the process, score big with the public. But I know you won’t. You are just too obsessed with and stupefied by profits to be able to see clearly.
It’s almost April, and there’s still no Democratic Presidential nominee. Each candidate is now almost desperate to differentiate himself / herself from the other.
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s strategy is to identify herself as the experienced candidate. She recently produced a TV ad that portrays her as the right President to receive a troubling 3 am call (see my earlier post). Lately, she’s attempting to showcase her foreign policy and diplomacy experience. On at least 3 different occasions (Dec. 2007, Feb. 2008, March 2008), she has chronicled her hair-raising experience of visiting Bosnia in March of 1996 when she was the First Lady. She described how her official greeting consisted of wearing a bullet-proof vest, dodging sniper fire, and rushing to armored vehicles for shelter.
This would have been a great story - if it was true. In fact, there are actual news footage that show her greeting an 8 year old girl, shaking hands with and talking to US soldiers, and posing for a picture with a group of school children – all that while still on the tarmac.
Watch this video and decide for yourself.
Sen. Clinton has since apologized for the error in her recollection of the events, citing that she’s only human. Dodging bullets or not, Hillary is not just an ordinary human like the rest of us. She is one of the most unique individuals of our time. Most people are unaware of her many accomplishments. Here are merely some examples of what she’s done in her life:
If I believed in reincarnation, I would want to come back as a NY Governor in my next life.
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This story continues to get better and better. Read my earlier post on it if you wish.
Here’s a quick review. First, Governor Spitzer admitted to getting his kicks from an overly-expensive prostitute (although it was brought to my attention that what may seem expensive to us normal citizens may not be necessarily expensive to a NY Governor). In any event, his wife stood by his side, albeit with a blank stare, while he publicly admitted it. He resigned two days later; David Paterson replaced him. Less than 24 hours after taking office, both David Paterson and his wife admitted to having extra-marital affairs.
And so the hits keep on coming. During an interview on NY1 Cable News Station on Monday, March 24, Governor Paterson admitted to smoking marijuana and using cocaine in his early 20s.
So far we’ve covered sex and drugs. The only thing that can top this fairy tale of a Governor’s life is if Paterson joins a band.
If I believed in reincarnation, I would want to come back as a NY Governor in my next life.
The village of Sarpourenx, France (pop. 260) has a problem. It’s running out of cemetery plots. What’s the big deal, you may ask? Well, it means that you can no longer be buried there. That’s quite a predicament for those who are born and raised there. Chances are they would like to be buried there as well.
Not to worry. Mayor Gerard Lalanne is on the case. With Giuliani-like decisiveness and Cheney-like resolve, he has issued the following decree: “all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish.” He continued: “Offenders will be severely punished.”
I will now pause and let you make your own jokes.
Perhaps we should have let the Germans keep France . . . or at least the village of Sarpourenx. And I’m dying (pun intended) to know how the Mayor is planning to punish dead people. I wonder if water-boarding them will be an effective punishment.
Obama’s response in this ad is clever, albeit just as meaningless as Clinton’s. The message he explicitly conveys is that judgement, not experience, is what matters when answering the 3 AM call. Implicitly however, the ad suggests that the early morning call to The White House may not materialize if the President’s policies have been sound and thoughtful in the first place.
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One of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s strategies in her race to The White House has been to differentiate herself as the experienced candidate. She has made a point of that through the idea of an unexpected 3 am phone call to the President. Presumably, the call is about some national security emergency that requires immediate and decisive action by the President.
Watch this video first, and ponder the questions below:
How is it that at 3 am when Hillary answers the phone, she’s nicely dressed and even has make-up on. Was she out drinking and dancing with Bill? Did 45 minutes tick away needlessly while she got dressed and made herself presentable? Does she have ESP and, therefore, was able to predict the impending phone call?
Shouldn’t that all-important 3 am call come through a RED phone? Can we, The United States of America, not afford to get our President a red phone with flashing lights and Mission Impossible theme music?
The ad says that she’s tested and ready. Wasn’t that Rudy Giuliani’s unsuccessful campaign slogan?
We must give credit where credit is due. It is likely that Hillary truly does have experience in answering the 3 am phone call. Being married to Bill for many years has probably necessitated dealing with a few unexpected phone calls. The most likely early-morning call to President Hillary Clinton will be from a State Trooper saying: Madam President, it’s 3 am, do you know where your husband is? We do!
And here’s Sen. Obama’s answer to Sen. Clinton’s ad:
Obama’s response in this ad is clever, albeit just as meaningless as Clinton’s. The message he explicitly conveys is that judgement, not experience, is what matters when answering the 3 AM call. Implicitly however, the ad suggests that the early morning call to The White House may not materialize if the President’s policies have been sound and thoughtful in the first place. In other words, he implies Clinton will have to answer the early morning call, but he may not have to.
That reminds me of a few years ago when Microsoft’s Windows and Internet Explorer products were plagued with seemingly endless security holes. Not a month went by without a new virus or security threat infecting millions of PCs and Servers. Microsoft’s attempt to address this issue was ineffective and laughable for almost a year. The joke at the time was that Microsoft is attempting to reach security through obscurity. Similarly, Obama is attempting to reach world peace through policy.
That’s a nice idea, Mr. Obama, but it’s not enough and it won’t work. You better be prepared to deal with unreasonable radicals no matter what policies you have enacted. That 3 am phone call will come, and you will have no choice but to answer it. And remember, it is perfectly acceptable to answer that call in your boxers. Don’t waste time getting dressed. The person on the other end of the line won’t care.
So, the moral of the story is that NY Governors get more sex while in office than you will ever get in your entire life.
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What is it with New York Governors and sex outside of marriage?
First, we learned Elliot Spitzer was getting . . . um, satisfaction from a prostitute. The tragedy of it is that she’s not even that good-looking. Spending $4,300 (per session) on her is just outrageous, criminal, and immoral. I’m not an expert in this area, but in my estimation, she’s not worth a fraction of that amount. Just look at her picture, and decide for yourself if I’m wrong.
Of course, Spitzer had to publicly admit to getting . . . um, satisfaction from another woman, while his wife stood by him with a blank stare.
Fast forward two days: Spitzer resigned and David Paterson was sworn in as the new Governor. Not even one full day after taking office, Paterson admitted to getting . . . um, satisfaction outside of marriage. But this time, unlike in Spitzer’s case, Paterson’s wife was also getting . . . um, satisfaction with another man.
Paterson did one better than Spitzer though. He received . . . um, satisfaction from a number of women, not just one. That means he blew way more money than Spitzer on women who were not worth the price. But he has a good excuse. He’s legally blind; therefore, he requires a larger sampling than, say, Spitzer.
So, the moral of the story is that NY Governors get more sex while in office than you will ever get in your entire life. Democrats in NY . . . they must be so proud.
Due to profound fundamental and religious differences, the Shiite majority in Iran would rip Al-Qaida to shreds if they find them there.
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John McCain recently visited Iraq on a fact-finding mission. To his credit, he has visited Iraq many times in the past few years; no other lawmaker can claim that. He held a news conference in Amman, Jordan on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 to discuss his findings – quite shocking findings.
“Well, it’s common knowledge and it’s been reported in the media that Al-Qaida is going back into Iran and is receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known.”
Really?!!! Al-Qaida is going into Iran? Are you sure? Is that your final answer? Did your fact-finding mission in Iraq reveal that to you, Mr. McCain?
In fact, Al-Qaida is NOTgoing into Iran. Due to profound fundamental and religious differences, the Shiite majority in Iran would rip Al-Qaida to shreds if they find them there. Not all Muslims are aligned in their views. Not all Muslims are terrorists. And certainly not all Muslims are sympathetic to Al-Qaida. That’s just common sense.
Not to worry though. Sen. Joe Lieberman (Independent, Connecticut), traveling with Mr. McCain, stepped up and whispered some words into his ear. Immediately, McCain said: “I’m sorry; the Iranians are training the extremists, not al-Qaida”.
I respect Sen. McCain for his past military service to the country as well as for his many visits to Iraq. But, come on! How many fact-finding missions to Iraq does he need to embark upon for him to understand the relationship between Al-Qaida, Iraq, Iran, Shiites, and Sunnis?
This is not my material, but I think it’s pretty funny, so I’m posting it. I don’t have a source.
How to use the rebate – As you may have heard, the Bush Administration said each and every one of us would now get a nice rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline, it will all go to the Arabs. If we purchase a computer, it will all go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables, it will all go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatamala. If we purchase a good car, it will all go to Japan. If we purchase useless crap, it will all go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.
We need to keep that money here in America. How? By purchasing prostitutes and beer, since those are the only businesses still in the US. Elliot Spitzer’s only sin may have been his passion to help the American economy.
In honor of PI Day (Friday, 3/14), why not take a PI personality quiz? But first, here are some interesting and fun facts about this number.
PI is a number that is both irrational (it cannot be expressed as a fraction) and transcendental (no finite sequence of algebraic operations on integers could produce it). It describes the ratio of the circumference of a circle to it’s diameter. The earliest account of PI goes all the way back to around 1900 BC.
And now, the personality quiz. Ready? Write down the number PI to as many digits as you know (no cheating). Now look down for your personality score.
.
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.
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.
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.
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If you know PI as 3.14, then you’re well within the bell curve. That doesn’t guarantee you’re a normal person, but it does imply that you have a fairly good chance of being a typical, average individual.
If you know PI as 3.1415, then you’re still well within the normal bell curve, but you’re closer to the intelligent range. You know how much change you should receive from a cashier if you pay $2.83 for an item that costs $2.33.
If you can recite PI to 3.14159265, then you may have a streak of geekiness in your past life. Your High School year book most likely has a picture of you in big, thick glasses and with pimples. It is also possible that you had no girlfriend / boyfriend in college.
If you have memorized PI to about 50 decimal points, then it’s official. You are definitely not within the normal range of the bell curve, although it’s tough to say which side of it you actually are. You’re awarded bonus points if you memorized PI when you were married, had children, or held down a regular job. Further, you know how many steps there are in your house, have memorized all the obscure cooking codes of your microwave oven, and may know your toe nail growth rate (centimeters per week).
If you know PI to 100 decimal points, then it’s fairly clear that, generally speaking, you’re not getting any – and you’re completely OK with it, perhaps even prefer it.
If you can recite PI to over 100 decimal point, and you’re not a savant, then you are in serious and urgent need of very expensive therapy.
Now enjoy these 2 videos. First one is a PI song.
And here’s a math professor who can recite PI to 139 digits while juggling (see the personality test above).
The White House, in an ambitious anticipation of using this slide, having had more than a few days to prepare it, and using it to make a point about intelligence actually made a mistake – an intelligence mistake.
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During a Press Briefing on March 6, 2008, The White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino, produced a slide in an effort to make a point about Protect America Act. Unfortunately for Ms. Perino and the White House, the slide was wrong. It identified Steny Hoyer as the Senate majority leader when, in fact, he’s the House majority leader.
Q Dana, what are the prospects for the Protect America Act, from the White House point of view?
MS. PERINO: Well, what’s interesting is I actually have a slide, I can actually bring up now that you’ve asked. It was almost 21 days ago — (laughter.)
Q First day back. (Laughter.)
MS. PERINO: We’ve been waiting to use this for a couple of days. (Laughter.) If you remember, it was about four weeks ago, everyone in this briefing room was asking why President Bush wouldn’t accept a three-week extension, and everyone thought it would be very reasonable to just give them 21 more days to work. Well, we’re nearing — I think we’re at 20 days today, and they’re not even near –
Q I think that statement was the House Majority Leader, by the way.
MS. PERINO: He is. It is a bad slide.
Q That says Senate.
MS. PERINO: I know, and it’s the House. That’s why it’s bad. So I will take Pete Seat and I will get him — (laughter) — in a lot of trouble. His mother will not be happy. (Laughter.)
So, let’s review. The White House, in an ambitious anticipation of using this slide, having had more than a few days to prepare it, and using it to make a point about intelligence actually made a mistake – an intelligence mistake. That is not a forgivable or understandable mistake. Surely the White House staff know who the House majority leader is. Don’t they? Surely they Googled “Steny Hoyer” and double checked their facts. Didn’t they?
And so, the problem with hidden intelligence is revealed. Without sufficient review and oversight, anyone can make a mistake, especially in the area of national security and intelligence. How can the White House (or anyone for that matter) guarantee that such obvious mistakes would not go unnoticed in other non-public situations? What if some of those mistakes were related to situations or people that would not bring back a Google hit? What if an entire agency goes after the wrong person (by spending untold hours and resources) due to an intelligence mistake because no external review and oversight process is present?
Protect America Act with better intelligence, no oversight or review, and no way of asking for information even through litigation? The White House already proved unable and unworthy of the challenge.
Posted by jmjorat 
Shouldn’t that all-important 3 am call come through a RED phone? Can we, The United States of America, not afford to get our President a red phone with flashing lights and Mission Impossible theme music?
First, we learned Elliot Spitzer was getting . . . um, satisfaction from a prostitute. The tragedy of it is that she’s not even that good-looking. Spending $4,300 (per session) on her is just outrageous, criminal, and immoral. I’m not an expert in this area, but in my estimation, she’s 
not worth a fraction of that amount. Just look at her picture, and decide for yourself if I’m wrong.
Fast forward two days: Spitzer resigned and David Paterson was sworn in as the new Governor. Not even one full day after taking office, Paterson admitted to getting . . . um, satisfaction outside of marriage. But this time, unlike in Spitzer’s case, Paterson’s wife was also getting . . . um, satisfaction with another man.
Really?!!! Al-Qaida is going into Iran? Are you sure? Is that your final answer? Did your fact-finding mission in Iraq reveal that to you, Mr. McCain?
In honor of 
operations on integers could produce it). It describes the ratio of the circumference of a circle to it’s diameter. The earliest account of PI goes all the way back to around 1900 BC.
During a Press Briefing on March 6, 2008, The White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino, produced a slide in an effort to make a point about 
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