Traditional Propaganda

Despair.com has come out with some new demotivators. Here are my favorite two:




You know, if I were smarter, I'd convince Dr. E. L. Kersten that I should get a percentage of the sales from the references from my blog like I do from Amazon.com. But I guess I'm just too big a sucker for that. From his latest e-mail to me (edited for grammar):

Why shouldn't you get suckered again? You're great at it! Marketing people like myself love that part of you!

"Really? You love me? Even though I'm a big-time chump?"

Not "even though." Because.

The Widening Gap Between the Rich and Super-Rich

In The Know: Are America's Rich Falling Behind The Super-Rich?

Sowing Wild Oats

A fellow chess player posted this joke on a discussion board:

"Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap."

This became real to me after years of sowing wild oats in my youth. As I grew older, I found myself praying for crop failure.

Equal Justice? What's That?

A quote from today's White House press briefing:

Question: Scott, is Scooter Libby getting more than equal justice under the law? Is he getting special treatment?

MR. STANZEL: Well, I guess I don't know what you mean by "equal justice under the law."

I laughed pretty hard when I heard this, but it's really not that funny.

Help Stop Teenage Affluenza

I found this funny video on YouTube that has a serious message. The spot might have shown on Australian TV.



Here is the website: 40 Hour Famine. You won't hear this message very often in America, so I will do my best to spread the word via my humble blog.

Despair

I try to see the humor in my life experiences. If you have read my blog entry today Seven Years Of Bad Luck (just scroll down the page), you might think that it became the inspiration of the site Despair.com.

Here are some good demotivational posters that describe my recent life experiences:

Mistakes

Misfortune

Change

Doubt

Failure

Overconfidence

Potential

Success

Hubris

I don't know where this came from (Hat Tip to Robert Coté for finding it). I looked over at Despair.com, but didn't find it there. So there must be someone else doing the same thing. Can anyone help me find others like it?

Stephen Colbert on Bush's Health Care Proposal

Last night on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert made the same observation I made yesterday in prose -- only funny.

***Update*** I think I found the link:



Here is the transcript:

Colbert: What made the President's speech so groundbreaking was all the new stuff we heard from the President -- like a domestic agenda. Take his proposal to fix that whole health care mess with the only proven cure-all: tax breaks.

President Bush: And for the millions of other Americans who have no health insurance at all: this deduction would help put a basic health insurance plan within their reach.

Colbert: It's simple: most people who can't afford health insurance also are too poor to owe taxes. But, if you give them a deduction from the taxes they don't owe, they can use the money they're not getting back from what they haven't given to buy health care they can't afford.

***

And that's the Word.

Hurricane Katrina Loan Application Exchange

You've might have seen this already, but I got this through a forwarded email. I have made some alterations for grammar and style.
_____________________________________________

Many of you reading this know that New Orleans residents are challenged often with the task of tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years. With a community rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of family, making it quite difficult to establish ownership.

Here's a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a client that was absolutely priceless! You gotta love this lawyer . . . it's too good not to share! Everyone who has ever bought a house will enjoy this.

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply:

(Actual letter):

"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows (actual letter):

"Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased by the U.S. from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application.

For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella.

The good queen, Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus' expedition.

Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world.

Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back, to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope you find God's original claim to be satisfactory.

Now, may we have our damn loan ?"

The loan was approved.

________________________________

***Update***

111 Brad Street points out that this is just an Urban Legend. Apparently this tall tale has been around for quite a while.

Christian vs. Christ Follower

Here are some videos that parody the Apple/Mac vs. PC commercials on TV. The videos contrast "bumper-sticker" Christianity with a more relaxed and "down to earth" concept of Christian living.

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:



I am like the guy on the right.

No Worries...

From Calculated Risk:

Dr. Christine Chmura, president and chief economist at Chmura Economics & Analytics, says the economic pessimists aren't looking at the complete picture. She writes in the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Consumer debt high, but there's more to the story.
"...the Fed reports that household debt service payment (interest and principal) of homeowner mortgages relative to disposable personal income was 11.6 percent in the second quarter of 2007, the highest ratio on record since the data were first calculated in 1980.

Combining mortgage debt, consumer debt and other financial obligations -- auto leases, rental payments, homeowners insurance, property-tax payments gives the broadest view of debt for households.

Once again the Fed reports that this debt-service ratio for households is the highest on record: 14.4 percent of disposable personal income.

Couple this information about consumer debt with a significant slowdown in home-price acceleration, and pessimists point toward a soon-to-occur recession."
But Chmura says:
"[The pessimists] haven't looked at the complete picture.

A full balance sheet reflects assets as well as liabilities. As of the third quarter of 2006, household assets were at a record $67.058 trillion. Rising values in real estate and equities contributed to the increase.

More important, net worth hit a record $54.063 trillion during the same quarter.

So ... when the bills roll in over the next month, just remind yourself that the consumer engine that fueled an expansion still has the ability to support more spending and keep the economy robust."
Never mind that Chmura mixes flows with stocks, more importantly she could have written this piece in mid-1990 - just as the early '90s recession started.

Poster Tanta's response.

JibJab's 2006 Year In Review

This comedy video goes very fast. You may have to play it several times to understand all the words.

Text from a Birthday Card I received...

Your birthday reminds me of that great Oriental philosopher.

Yung No Mo.

Happy Birthday.


Gee, thanks for reminding me.

Stop Buying Stuff

Saturday Night Live spoof skit of financial management.

And the Follow-Up humor from Despair.com

Overconfidence;

Stupidity; and

Potential