Human Nature is perplexing, disgusting

Some days, I truly do not understand my fellow man. Consider this story. A woman - either crazy or criminal - drives up to a Burlington Coat Factory in a (fraudulently) rented limousine and announces she has won the lottery and will pay for the purchases of anyone in the store up to $500. People go wild, buying everything in sight. After several thousands of dollars worth of merchandise has been rung up, the people figure out the woman has been lying. She has no money. So what do they do?

By the time employees realized Brown didn't have any cash to pay, police said, she already had taken off in the limo.
That's when angry customers, realizing they weren't getting free coats, began throwing merchandise on the floor and grabbing clothes without paying for them, Nace said.
"Everybody was like, 'I still want my free stuff,' and that started the riot," he said. "It looks like (Hurricane) Katrina went through the store."
Police said they have no way of tracking down the customers who stole items and fled, but they're reviewing surveillance video.

So, person A wrong me, and I feel this gives me the right to take vengeance upon person B. Is it any mystery why this world is so messed up?!

This should also be a cautionary tale for legislators looking to reform Health Care. Remember, people may not thank you for your efforts. In fact, it is likely no matter what you do, they will feel cheated out of the "free stuff" they feel they were promised.

My Health Care Advice: CALM DOWN!

You know that the Health Care debate has gotten out of hand when you start reading about one protester biting off a counter-protester's finger. You know it is even MORE insane when people begin trying to win political points off of the incident. Please, America, calm down. Neither Universal Government Health Care nor Private Insurance is the end of the world.

O'Hanlon says the man got into an argument and fist fight, during which he bit off the left pinky of a 65-year-old man who opposed health care reform.
A hospital spokeswoman says the man lost half the finger, but doctors reattached it and he was sent home the same night.
She says he had Medicare.

I *REALLY* want to see PETA's reaction to this...

Obama tries to block AIG Bonuses

It is no surprise that the President wants to take a stand against AIG's unreasonable bonuses. But now, he apparently has ordered the Treasury Secretary to prevent payment altogether.

“In the last six months, A.I.G. has received substantial sums from the U.S. Treasury,” Mr. Obama said. He added that he had asked Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner “to use that leverage and pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”

Later in the day, a White House official disclosed that the administration would use a pending $30 billion installment for A.I.G. to recoup the $165 million in retention payments to A.I.G. employees in the business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.

I'll say it again. It is time to stop trying to make corrupt banking executives do the right thing. It is time to start PUNISHING these executives for what they did wrong. Pay them their millions, and then start taking it back in fines and civil lawsuits. Who would want $6.5 million, if the cost is to have to pay back $20 million?

Early Sesame Street episodes are "UNSAFE"?

Here we have another case of unbelievable political correctness. DVDs of early Sesame Street episodes are being released with a warning that they are for adults only. Why?

I asked Carol-Lynn Parente, the executive producer of “Sesame Street,” how exactly the first episodes were unsuitable for toddlers in 2007. She told me about Alistair Cookie and the parody “Monsterpiece Theater.” Alistair Cookie, played by Cookie Monster, used to appear with a pipe, which he later gobbled. According to Parente, “That modeled the wrong behavior” — smoking, eating pipes — “so we reshot those scenes without the pipe, and then we dropped the parody altogether.”

Are parents really unable to explain to kids that smoking is NOT okay? I must say that as a toddler I watched Sesame Street religiously, and I never once interpreted these spots as promoting tobacco. I was not once tempted to try to eat a pipe myself.

Can we PLEASE get a grip?

Yes, they can check my reciept

There is a new partiularly rabid strain of libertarian thought going around right now regarding the current practice of many stores to check your reciept on the way out, as a way of preventing theft. I have some sympathy when these policies are applied overly strictly at retailers like Circuit City and Best Buy. Especially as in the case of a recent Circuit City customer who was arrested for refusing to produce a reciept. (Technically, he was arrested for failure to produce ID, but CC did everything in their power to force the issue.) However, you always have the alternative to NOT give your money to these retailers. (If you don't have another local electronics store, remember Amazon.Com or any number of small internet retailers are only a click and UPS away.)

But the newest strain of this meme is fury over big-box retailers like BJ's and CostCo doing the same thing. This truly makes no sense, for a simple reason. YOU SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH THE COMPANY THAT GIVES THEM THAT PRIVILEGE. The way that stores like BJ and Costco keep down prices is by buying in bulk, and minimizing staffing. They lack sophisticated security systems or an oppressive watchful staff to prevent shoplifting, and instead place a single pimply-faced person at the door to check your reciept against your cart. This is annoying, but hardly a violation of anyone's rights.

So, let's all calm down out there, okay? If you feel a need to express your annoyance at these practices, complain to the local manager or the regional directors of the stores in question. And don't patronize any place you feel violates your rights. But stop making a Federal Case out of a hung over teenager earning minimum wage checking reciepts.