Sneaky, Ninja Cat

I'm a sucker for funny pet-related videos. Watch the cat. The cat only moves when the camera is not on him/her:

Prank Call: I Don't Know If It's the Best But It's Pretty Good

And the Republicans Wonder Why Minorities Don't Support Them

Or, alternate title, the RNC tries to offend everyone. (cover of the album above)

For a party that claims they're attempting to reach out to minorities they sure have a funny way of showing it. Chip Saltsman, Huckabee's former campaign manager and candidate for the RNC chairpersonship, sent the above "parody" (depends on what you think is funny) music album to RNC members. Here's the track list:

Track Listings
1. Blazing Liberal - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
2. The Justice Brothers - Paul Shanklin,
3. We Hate the USA - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
4. Al Gore's Norwegian Moose Research - Paul Shanklin,
5. Hillary Clinton Dialect System - Paul Shanklin,
6. I Can Talk Like a Cola Miner's Daughter - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
7. Message from Kim Jung II - Paul Shanklin,
8. California Spanking Psa - Paul Shanklin,
9. Stand - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
10. Your Momma's So Fat - Paul Shanklin,
11. Obama - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
12. Hillaryclinton.com - Paul Shanklin,
13. Down on the Farm with al Gore - Paul Shanklin,
14. Ball of Fire - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
15. Paul Shanklin Interview on C-Spam - Paul Shanklin,
16. David Ehrenstein's "Barack the Magic Negro" - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
17. Citizen McCain - Paul Shanklin,
18. John Edward's Poverty Tour - Paul Shanklin,
19. I Am Woman - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
20. Pelosi vs. Sheehan - Paul Shanklin,
21. Obama Apology - Paul Shanklin,
22. Wright Place, Wrong Pastor - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
23. Trent Lott - Paul Shanklin,
24. Osama Audio Translation - Paul Shanklin,
25. Mister Tan Marine Man - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
26. Bank of Amigo - Paul Shanklin,
27. The Party of Love - Paul Shanklin,
28. Love Client #9 - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
29. The Justice Brothers "Duke Lacrosse" - Paul Shanklin,
30. McCain and the Old Gray Lady - Paul Shanklin,
31. If You Don't Know Me by Now - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
32. Where Have All the Conservatives Gone? - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
33. The Justice Brothers "Broadcast Insurance" - Paul Shanklin,
34. U Can't Say That - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
35. Simplify Your Life - Paul Shanklin,
36. I Started a Joke - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
37. Your Momma's Still Fat - Paul Shanklin,
38. 3 A.M. - Paul Shanklin,
39. Ivory and Ebony - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul
40. Dr. Phil - Paul Shanklin,
41. The Star-Spanglish Banner - Paul Shanklin, Shanklin, Paul

It's the RNC members that will determine who the next chairperson of the RNC is. This album, and who sent it to who, has raised the ire of minority groups. Songs such as, "Barack the Magic Negro" and "The Star Spanglish Banner" haven't sat well with certain people. Surprise, surprise.

Two troubling things about what has transpired: 1) A candidate for the RNC chairpersonship would send it and 2) A candidate for the RNC chairpersonship thinks the RNC membership would like this album and help sway votes his way.

Again, for a party supposedly trying to build a more diverse party, they sure have a weird way of showing it. I wonder, how many minority RNC members thought this gift was funny? I also wonder, how many minority RNC members are there?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16876.html

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rnc-candidate-distributes-controversial-obama-song-2008-12-26.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DUJIKE/ref=s9subs_c1_15_img1-rfc_g1_si1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0549XR9CB2STR1K1V6JX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383351&pf_rd_i=507846

Nazi Movies Don't Play In The USA On Christmas

Or, alternate title, movies about Nazis are especially bad when the bad guy doesn't die

So, Tom Cruise's big blockbuster, "Valkyrie" is coming out. Tom Cruise's character unsuccessfully attempts to kill Hitler. Doesn't that sound like Christmas fun to you? Yeah, me neither. Here is, in my opinion, why it's going to fail miserably:

1) It's coming out on Christmas

2) It's about Nazis

3) They actually sent Tom Cruise out to promote the movie

4) It's about Nazis

5) The "hero" in the movie works for Nazis

6) It's mostly about Nazis

7) They've advertised like crazy (seriously, we get it, he tried to kill Hitler)

8) We all know that Tom Cruise's character failed to kill Hitler in 1944. Even had his character killed Hitler it would not have been in time to stop the vast majority of the atrocities committed by the third reich. (by the way, whoever the hell that guy was, played by Tom Cruise, do you know his name now? Yeah, maybe you would. But, guess what, he didn't succeed. That's why you don't and won't know his name.)

9) Most folks like to go to movies with friends, family and children. People go to movies on Christmas for fun and the last thing you'd go to see is a movie about a failed plot to kill Hitler, unless you're a weirdo.

10) Oh, by the way did I mention it's about Nazis and Nazi Germany

Those are the reasons I think the movie is not going to do well. Let me know if you choose to go see it on Christmas day. Happy Holidays.

Dramatic Chipmunk Turn

I know it's been around for a while but, I thought I had posted it already. It makes me smile every time. Here it is:

Our Pets #15: Gilda & Cat Litter, Part III

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An Example of Why I Don't Like Insurance Companies Sometimes

Or, alternate title, make sure to read the fine print when you're signing a deal with the devil

Below is a link to a news story that is all too familiar for folks that do business with or against insurance companies. Let me be clear, I'm not saying that all insurance companies are bad or that the people that work for them are evil, just like I don't think that every plaintiff's attorney is a saint. Insurance companies and plaintiffs' attorneys are in it to make money. However, it's stories like these that make me wonder how plaintiffs'/trial attorneys are looked down upon but insurance companies, at least to some, are on the people's side. Also, this type of story illustrates why it's not a bad idea to retain an attorney when you have to make certain types of claims against insurance companies whether you are the injured party or the party that purchased the insurance policy.

Here's the background: Three people were killed in a Houston office fire in 2007. The three families of the victims hired an attorney and sued, presumably the office building owner (side note: in Texas you don't sue the insurance company directly, you sue the person or entity that is insured. In fact you will never hear the word "insurance" in front of a jury in a personal injury/wrongful death trial because saying "insurance" in front of a jury would make the jury more inclined to give more and larger awards to plaintiffs, at least that's what insurance companies argue, and that's the argument they've successfully used to convince the Texas legislature and courts). The building owner had insurance with Great American Insurance Company. In this instance, the insurance company has stepped in (the article doesn't say but, probably by filing a declaratory action). Below is an excerpt from the article detailing the relief that the insurance company is seeking:

Great American Insurance Co. has asked U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in Houston to rule that the deaths caused by the smoke, fumes and soot will not be covered by the policy because there is a specific exclusion for pollution and it mentions smoke, fumes and soot.

You see, the people that perished in the fire did not burn to death. They died of smoke inhalation. The policy that the building owner signed with Great American specifically excludes coverage for deaths caused by smoke, fumes and soot. If the judge goes by the letter of the policy the judge will likely have to rule for the insurance company if the policy does indeed exclude coverage for deaths caused by such injuries. The problem is most people, even office building owners, don't know what is covered in the insurance policies they sign and pay for. Moreover, two parties to a contract, even if it's Joe Buildingowner and Big Insurance, are deemed to have read and understood a contract when they sign it. In this instance the building owner was sold "fire" coverage. The building owner probably didn't read the fine print and just assumed that the policy covered any and all deaths and injuries caused by any future fire. Of course, you know what happens when one "assumes". Is it right that this building owner thought there was coverage? Is it right the Great American sold the building owner "fire" coverage knowing full well that this exclusion existed its policy? Is it right that the building owner would be left holding the bag if the court goes Great American's way? Of course I don't think it's right. I think it should be against public policy to let insurance companies write policies like this that cover "fires" but don't really cover things associated with fires. But it's not up to me, it's up to a federal judge for now. And even if this judge rules against Great American is there any doubt that Great American would appeal? And why wouldn't Great American appeal an adverse ruling. They have nothing to lose and all to gain by having a court rule that these types of policies are OK. It's just the policy holders and those that are hurt that have nothing to gain and a lot to lose.

http://www.star-telegram.com/448/story/1100057.html

Our Pets #14: Cindy & Gilda

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Our Pets #13: Gilda & Cat Litter, Part II

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Our Pets #12: Gilda & Cat Litter

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FAILBLOG.ORG STRIKES AGAIN!

failblog.org is greatness. Here's an example why, "Pizza Delivery Fail":


And church procession fail with a Star Wars twist:

Our Pets #11: Gilda Eating Cindy & Primo's Food

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Our Pets #10: Reinforcements

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Our Pets #9: The Aftermath

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FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

Just in case you haven't heard of them, here's a couple of their songs from their HBO series. Funny and good music. They're second season on HBO should be starting soon. I believe the first season is out on DVD and the album is on itunes.

First, "Business Time":

Here's a live performance of "The Humans Are Dead":

The New York Times Needs To Be Bought By Google To Survive? Maybe.

Or, alternate title, "Extra! Extra! Dateline December 11, 2008, Print Media Discovers New Phenomenon Called the Internet!"

For years a good friend has been pointing out the dead-end road the traditional print media is on. Apparently, some media types, such as the New York Times, are starting to look at their circulation numbers, balance sheets, and real worth of their traditional media companies and see the end of the road too.  They're worried, and for good reason.  Below is a link to an article that points out the obvious problems papers, like the NYT's, are facing.  The solution?  Sell to a Google-type company.  Of course there's only one Google-type company, Google.  So sale options are limited.  Good for the buyer/Google, bad for the seller/ the Old Grey Lady.  

Plus, I just heard today that NewsWeek is cutting jobs and may cut number of pages per issue.  The print media survived the invention of the TV and some print-media-honchos probably thought they could survive this whole crazy, computer, internets, world wide web thingy too without significantly changing their business model. Whoops. 

They'll tell you that they have changed their business models and point to their online content for example.  The key word in the phrase, "signifcantly changing their business model," is "signifcantly".  All the traditional print media types have online content but they're also still losing money hand over fist.  So now we'll see what happens to the traditional print media.  It should be interesting. 

http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/will-google-buy-i-the-new-york-times-i

Our Pets #8: Cindy Did It!

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Coldplay Rips Off(Allegedly) Small Brooklyn Band Called "Creaky Boards"???

Creaky Boards released their song in 2007 before Coldplays' "Vida La Vida", which was released in 2008:

One problem for Creaky Boards and Coldplay though, Joe Satriani released his instrumental, "If I Could Fly" in 2004. Whoops.

Why is this of note? This could turn into a nasty lawsuit with millions of dollars at stake. Just ask the Verve what happened when they sampled, "too much," of a Rolling Stones song, even though the Verve had been given permission ahead of releasing "Bittersweat Symphony" to sample part of the Stones song, "The Last Time".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_Sweet_Symphony

Artilce on Coldplay vs. Creaky Boards:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/51319-coldplay-deny-stealing-melody-from-brooklyn-band

Article on Coldplay vs. Joe Satriani:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97973449

Texas Supreme Court Justice Hecht's (Alleged) Illegal Campaign Contributions

Or alternate title, "I, Nathan Hecht, swear to uphold the law, except when it applies to collecting contributions for my own campaign or legal defense."

Justice Hecht, of the Texas Supreme Court, has been fined for violating camapaign contribution/fundraising laws. This all stems from him throwing all his weight behind W.'s soon-to-be-doomed U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers (good judgement shown there by Justice Hecht). The Texas State Commmission on Judicial Conduct determined that Hecht had violated ethics cannons by using his judicial office to promote a candidate and/or abused his position. What did Hecht do? He lawyered up and got help from the biggest law firms and PAC's in Texas (Vinson & Elkins, Baker Botts and the firm where Miers landed after leaving Washington, now Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, Hillco PAC, funded largely by home builder Bob Perry, and Texans for Lawsuit Reform, backed by Big Insurance) to fight the Commission's findings. Why did these heavy hitters help him out? Maybe because the Republican Texas Supreme Court votes for Insurance and Big Business over 85% of the time in cases before it. And maybe these big firms and PAC's service Big Insurance and Big Business. That's just a guess.

Hecht and his team of lawyers got the Commission's ethics decision overturned. But, in doing so Hecht demonstrated more bad judgement. Hecht received this help with his legal battle at a signifcant discount. How significant you ask? Over $150,000.00 in discounts. Moreover, in soliciting help from these big firms and PAC's, Hecht wrote a letter (never put your solicitation for free help in writing!) that read that the discounted help would be an, ""in-kind contribution", to his campaign. But, then Hecht didn't report the massive discount in his legal bills as a campaign contribution. And that's not allowed. The Texas Campaign Ethics Commission fined him $29,000.00 over the illegal campaign contributions.

What's Hecht going to do now? Pay it? Ha! Yeah, right. I don't know for sure but, I expect him, true to form, to lawyer up and fight this fine (by the way a $29,000.00 for over $150,000.00 in illegal campaign contributions? Sounds like a profit thing to me). Why shouldn't he fight it? He has a stable of lawyers ready and who is going to hear his appeal? Oh, that's right, more Republican judges that owe their bread and butter to Big Insurance and Big Business. Again though, that's just a guess.

http://www.star-telegram.com/225/story/1084338.html

Gov. Blagojevich: A Senate seat: “is a f***ing valuable thing."

Or alternate title, Gov. Blagojevich would have fit right in with Boss Tweed

Gov. Blagojevich is governor of Illinois and as such would have been the one to appoint President-Elect Obama's replacement to the U.S. Senate (he still could if he doesn't resign or is impeached but, it's doubtful he will in this atmosphere). However, Gov. Blagojevich has been arrested because he was seeking value for that appointment. By, the way, the quote in the title to this post is an actual quote from the Governor that was caught on tape. Oh, there are some more quotes from the Governor. For example, he was also caught on tape saying, “Unless I get something real good [for Senate candidate 1], s***, I’ll just send myself, you know what I’m saying.” Way to go Governor. Obama was still one day from being elected when these comments by the Governor were taped. Wow.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16348.html