Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Personal Responsibility
This blog, which nobody actually reads anyway, likes to come up with titles for it’s blog posts that reflect…themes. That’s the way life works, you’ll notice. Themes. The raging dickhole in the silver BMW 320i who cut you off on the freeway, he’s an instance, whom you’ll probably never see again…”assholes who annoy you when you drive to work” is an ongoing theme. And so we have titles that end with roman numerals. It’s cheesy, but that’s how we keep ourselves reflecting real life, or, something vaguely resembling it. Themes pop up again and again, and we “cap” them with a roman numeral.
And this thing with Australians taxing each other to raise Medicare money to change fat kids into skinny kids — when skinny kids should be cheaper than fat kids to begin with — is an instance of an ongoing theme: Personal responsibility. Now I’m not sure what is up with Labor Day, it seems to be “Personal Responsibility Day.” Or lack thereof.
We have some more things coming out today…again, these are instances of a common theme.
Like, uh, you can buy insurance in case you’re a little league coach, and get sued for yelling at some little motherfucker who uses the “F” word.
Almost everyone would agree that insurance to cover your home or car is a good idea.
How about insurance to cover your costs if your wedding gets canceled?
Or liability coverage if you’re a Little League coach and you get sued for hurting some kid’s feelings?
Or insurance to cover expenses in case you’re a victim of stalking?
The world of insurance includes all these possibilities and more. Insurance broker Kenneth Kukral calls it “oddball, weirdo stuff.”
The Insurance Information Institute calls it “niche” or “specialty” insurance. [emphasis mine]
Oddball, weirdo stuff. Yeah I’ll just bet. Some real creative genius-types in the marketing department of those noble insurance companies, are just seeking out all the nooks and crannies of ways they can protect the insurance consumer from…whatever.
Or, it could be more like…greasing the skids so lawyers can make more money. Well, I’ll leave that to the reader to decide.
In case you’re ever “sued for hurting some kid’s feelings”…sheesh.
And here’s another instance that is part of the same theme. Warning labels about keeping data secure on wireless connections. The new nanny-state law is passed in my home state…as usual.
From 1 October 2007, manufacturers must place warning labels on all equipment capable of receiving Wi-Fi signals, according to the new state law. These can take the form of box stickers, special notification in setup software, notification during the router setup, or through automatic securing of the connection. One warning sticker must be positioned so that it must be removed by a consumer before the product can be used.
The warnings would have to contain information on how to secure files, folders, and connections. Wireless internet connections can be used by anyone with Wi-Fi capability within the range of the transmitter unless they are secured.
Okay, here’s the bee up my butt.
We have lots of “soccer moms” out there demanding 55-mile-an-hour speed limits, and draconian gun control laws. “Real” people are out there, wanting that stuff…I don’t agree with them, but they are real people. They do exist.
We do not have “real” people demanding new medicare plans to teach chubby kids to be thin.
We do not have “real” people demanding new insurance policies in case little-league coaches are sued for hurting widdle kiddoes feeeeewwwings.
We do not have “real” people taking to the streets with pitchforks and torches, demanding WiFi warning labels.
We have lawyers wanting more ways of making money.
That is ALL we have here.
All the world over, people put up with this, and I don’t understand why they do. It’s like, when your house is already on fire, throwing a few more matches on it. Or when your car’s emergency brake has failed and it’s rolling downhill, running behind it, and giving it a good PUSH.
We have “soccer moms” who demand silly nanny-state rules, like you can’t keep score in a soccer game. Or you have to rip things out of an amusement park that might result in an occasional skinned knee on the poor widdle babums. And warning labels, and more warning labels.
They are politically powerful. Nobody wants to fuck with the soccer moms. They win, a lot more often than they lose.
Why do their political agendas have to be supplemented, with a bunch of blood-sucking lawyers who want to make more money, demanding all kinds of additional ridiculous legislative/litigatorial machinery, for which the soccer moms didn’t even ask?
Someday, I’d like to pass the bar and become a lawyer, just to find out how this works. We absolutely abhore people who are rich, who mutilate the way our society works, the implied social contracts between us, for no higher purpose than to become richer. Somehow, when it’s lawyers…we give ’em a pass. And the new laws they want — they get. Nobody stands in their way.
I honestly don’t understand it.
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