A Great Distraction! Rice Wars!

Costco and Sam’s are both beginning to limit the amount of rice that can be sold to any individual on a given day. Does this really affect most Americans?

I mean until Krispy Kreme and Burger King go healthy, sad to say, most Americans will never notice the difference.  No one has ever said, “Supersize my rice bowl” at McDonalds.

Of course it won’t matter if most people didn’t use much rice in the past, they will now want it. Now we have our own Rice Wars as people run out, hit multiple stores, and try to stock up. I suspect it will get much worse… 

Urban professionals taking their SUVs across the border and sneaking bags back into the US.

Old people being used as “mules” on flights into the US.

Kids trading each other at lunch — one pudding cup = 10 grains of brown rice. 

Dealers working the streets looking for people trying to score some high-grade yellow rice. 

Counterfeit rice hits the market. 

e-Bay turns into an online grocery business. 

People turn to salads. 

The catch: We don’t have a rice shortage here in the U.S. But, oh well, I guess if it keeps our attention away from terrorists, the election, the war, gas prices, foreclosures, impending meteors — than I guess we should all be for it. 

Just in case, I am heading to Costco to stock up on Basmati…I think people are going to be looking to score the good stuff.

 

***Be a Part of the Conversation and ADD A COMMENT***

Sen. Hillary Clinton and I both “Concede.”

What happens when you “concede” a point?

Sen. Hillary Clinton has been saying for some time now she was “under sniper attack” while her helicopter was landing in Bosnia. 

Impressive. Heck even borderline heroic. But than again, it was a lie. 

It has been reported, despite all the talk about the attack, Senator Clinton has now “conceded” the point and was not really under a sniper attack. 

How does that work? When you “concede,” does it just go away? No one cares you said stuff that was never true? Any tactic you use to make yourself look better is OK? 

I could have used the “concede” tactic when I was a kid. 

“I concede, I took the cookie.”

“I concede, I hit my sister.”

“I concede, I broke the lamp.”

“I concede, my homework was not destroyed in an elaborate terrorist attack.” 

But why limit such an innovative use of the English language to children and politicians? Adults, from all walks of life, could benefit from this fancy “no repercussions” response.

“I concede, I was speeding.”

“I concede, I took company money for personal use.”

“I concede, I spent all my money on gambling and drugs.”

“I concede that is not really my wife.”

“I concede I appropriated my neighbor’s power tools.” 

Here is how to fix this behavior… 

Stop lying. Period. 

You don’t need to sensationalize your actions. Either you did something or you didn’t. I was impressed enough Sen. John Kerry served in Vietnam — he didn’t have to be a hero. He served and I respect him for that (perhaps not enough for my vote).

I was impressed enough, as first lady, Hillary Clinton went to Bosnia — she didn’t have to say they were under sniper fire. Just say what happened and leave the embellishment to Hollywood.

Lastly, if I made too many grammar errors or misspellings in this entry… “I concede.”

***Be a Part of the Conversation and ADD A COMMENT***

Today’s Economy – Financial Stupidity or Greed?

OK, how the heck did the economy end up where it is now? Who is to blame? Well someone has to be blamed. It sure as hell was not our fault — or was it? 

Amid all the financial finger-pointing, candidates shooting at each other, and the general consensus things are tough all over, the real problem really only comes down to two issues: Stupidity or Greed

That is it. No bizarre blaming of things on oil, housing, the airline crisis, global warming, or even Brett Favre retiring (which I am still getting over) — none of that. You get two choices in this blog…pick one

Choice One: Greed. 

Ah, the old favorite. “I can’t possibly lose money in this market.” “ Don’t worry, the housing prices will keep going up, and you will make a killing.” 

It all works great in an up-market doesn’t it? People are making money, becoming overconfident, and beginning to over-extend themselves financially. Why not? My investments are going up — in a good way. Of course, all that is great until the music stops, there is a big scramble, and a few chairs seem to be missing. Actually, a lot of chairs are missing. 

The only “Greed Factor” question left is did people know they were being greedy (and therefore make the wrong decisions), or was it because of choice two (Financial Stupidity) that they ended up in the position they did? 

Which brings us to our second option… [Read more...]

***Be a Part of the Conversation and ADD A COMMENT***

Did NO ONE know it was wrong?

How can roughly nine kids plan to attack their third grade teacher and not have at least one of the kids with enough of a decent upbringing to know it was wrong?

This all happened in Waycross, Georgia. Some of the media, of course, are now shifting gears a bit as people start to say “it was a joke” and “they didn’t mean it.” Hell, they brought in a knife, handcuffs, tape, and other items for the attack. They each had a “task,” such as covering the window so no one would see, cleaning up the mess after the attack, etc., etc.

Where did they get the idea? Where were the parents in all of this? I am assuming all of them have some sort of parent in their lives who is doing a horrible, cruddy job of teaching them the basics of right and wrong.

I don’t normally post this sort of thing (as it borders on reality crud), but I think everyone needs to take a step back and look at our society. Our kids attacking teachers? What is next?

[

***Be a Part of the Conversation and ADD A COMMENT***

Immigration…just don’t host the party.

Imagine you are the host of a holiday party. Which “holiday” is not important and is certainly a subject for another blog. For your holiday party, you decide to invite 100 people. Since it is a friendly party in your home, you want it informal and ask each invitee to bring a bottle of wine and a snack of some sort.

As a good host, you go ahead and jumpstart your party with a few bottles of wine, some beer and sodas, as well as a few appetizers — knowing that a couple of people may “forget” to bring something.

Your guests begin to arrive early in the evening. Once you hit 100 people, you realize about 20 of them didn’t bring a beverage, a food item, or both. That is OK. It seems to be working out since 80 others did and you had “jumpstarted” the party.

However, now things take a different turn… [Read more...]

***Be a Part of the Conversation and ADD A COMMENT***

Yes Virginia, there are winners and losers…

When I was in sixth grade I lost both a spelling competition and a sport competition. It pretty much meant that I was not a top student intellectually or physically. The spelling competition was your run of the mill type — I couldn’t spell “equalize,” so I was out. The sport competition was the then coveted Presidential Physical Fitness Test where you accumulate points. I did “pass” the test, but not at the highest level possible (damn pull ups).

When I was a kid, there were winners and losers. There were people who were not picked quickly for a game of pickup football (some of us were never really “picked” at all — just the last one standing). Although our feelings may have been hurt, these experiences still manifested real life — yes, Virginia, there are losers. The losers either tried harder or found something they were good at. In any case, we all turned out OK .

Today, of course, is much different. We all get to be winners. There are no losers, no second place, no runners-up, no chance for anyone’s precious developing ego to be crushed by mean-spirited adults and peers. [Read more...]

***Be a Part of the Conversation and ADD A COMMENT***

Stop the “Bleeding!”

This blog starts today. Perhaps I was bored, or perhaps I just reached the end of my sociological rope. 

It seems that I can’t read the newspaper or turn on the TV without being inundated with seemingly stupid decisions that are slowly destroying our country. I wonder if these decisions are completely random or if they are simply the result of someone’s sinister plan (don’t worry, this is not a blog pertaining to “conspiracy theory” so I don’t really believe the latter).

I do believe, however, that in our efforts to be “politically correct,” make sure all our kids are “winners,” and protect everyone’s “precious egos,”  we are slowly evolving into a society that lacks basic freedoms and basic free thinkers. 

I encourage your comments, whether you agree or not. True communication is really our only weapon in a fight to maintain our individuality for generations to come. 

***Be a Part of the Conversation and ADD A COMMENT***