The Bullshit Stalker

Bullshit Police Incident

By admin on Jul. 25, 2008.

This one is kinda hard to stomach.  ABC reports that a 23 year old Tallahassee woman was pushed by police into doing a sting.  End result, she’s dead.  The police refuse to take responsibility and instead say she had two arrests related to marijuana.  What?

Since when did involvement in the drug trade make people disposable?  This is complete bullshit!

I’ll be watching this on ABC 20/20 tonight and may post an update later.

Update: This was a good piece by ABC 20/20.  The jest is as noted above.  She was told charges would be dropped if she became a narc.  No training.  Limited back up.  The bad guys threw in a twist and she gets popped.  The police blame her for deviating from the plan.

Yeah, can you smell the bullshit?  I think the Tallahassee Police Department better get their checkbook out.  There’s going to be a lawsuit and they’re going to lose.

Blog Name Change

By admin on Jul. 25, 2008.

If you’re an alert reader, you’ll probably realize that we’ve changed the name of the blog to The Bullshit Stalker.  This was done for a couple of reasons:  1) to rebrand the blog as a stand alone product as we go live with The Bullshit Awards; 2) to make it less confusing about the purpose of the blog (while we will discuss the goings and comings of The Bullshit Awards site and community, it isn’t the primary purpose of this blog).

We also came to realize that the domain bullshitstalker.com was available!  Go figure…

Skimping On Airline Extras Is Bullshit!

By admin on Jul. 24, 2008.

I was on an International flight lately and the meal service choice was chicken fried rice or chicken pasta.  I opted for the pasta and this is what I got:

Yes, there is a smattering of shreaded chicken on top of the pasta.  Now, my friends would say I could use to skip a meal so I shouldn’t be harping on the portions on a flight.  Being the argumentative person I am, I’d have opened my mouth to speak.  And wham!  Reality hits me in the square in the jaw!

It was enough.  Not only that, but I paid the same amount for this ticket as I would have for a single leg flight in the US.  And I got a freaking meal out of the deal!  Why can’t the US carriers do the same?

With higher oil prices, the airlines are getting creamed.  The reasonable person would say, just raise the prices enough to cover your fuel prices.  Heck, be clear about it and call it a fuel surcharge.  Surely the American public would understand that.

But the airline industry is a strange animal, and despite their troubles, they are run by some very savy people.  There are three main drivers behind their recent changes:

Nobody Wants To Go First
In the age of Expedia, Priceline and Orbitz, nobody wants to risk not being listed on the first page.  Just as website owners pay a premium (or fret over SEO) to be listed on the top, airline seats get filled from the top of these Internet sites.  If they are $50 more per seat, most of us won’t buy it unless there are compelling reasons why.  And they won’t ever get their chance to tell us it is to breakeven with higher fuel costs.

The Government Will Bail Them Out Again
The airline industry is key to our country’s infrastructure.  Business flows as the airlines flow.  They know this and when they get in real trouble.  Uncle Sam will bail them out.  They have to or else face the wrath of their benefactors and election campain contributors.

If They Can Add Complexity, They’ll Always Have The Upper Hand
This, my friend is where the rubber meets the road!  The current pricing is too transparent.  You know when you look up your ticket exactly what it is going to cost, taxes and all.  But a few surcharges here, an add on there.  You’ll be paying a lot more to travel.

Yes, gone are the days of the “set menu” for air travel.  Going forward, the price you pay will have less to do with when you booked your ticket and a lot more to do with how many fees get passed through to you without you catching them.

I’d call it bullshit, but it is really smart for the airlines to do this.  Being a frequent flier, I will feel its pinch.  What is bullshit about this whole thing is that they are blaming oil prices for the change.  That is just a convenient excuse.  I’m fairly certain they won’t go back to the old ways when and if oil prices go back down.

Rep. Peter King’s Demands Are Bullshit!

By admin on Jul. 23, 2008.

I’m not sure if you caught this out of New York, but a series of ads promoting Islam are scheduled to run on New York subways during their holy month called Ramadan.  The example ad is very basic and nonconfrontational.  But Rep. Peter King has demanded that the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority pull them.

Why?

Because he doesn’t like the person behind them (Siraj Wahhaj, imam of a Brooklyn mosque).  This man happened to know Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman (the guy convicted as the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing).

In Rep. King’s own words:

“They are especially shameful because the ads will be running during the seventh anniversary of September 11…  The subways are considered a primary target of terrorists…I strongly believe the MTA should pull the ads.”

Are we going to start busting the chops of every person who associates with a known criminal?  If so, then all of the members of Congress are guilty.  There’s probably more on the arrest records of the congressmen than there is in Siraj Wahhaj’s mosque.  String ‘em up!

The point is this:  We wouldn’t be having this conversation if this were a Christian ad campaign.  Nobody would care who was behind it.  Part of healing is understanding.  While individuals who carried out the World Trade Center bombing and 9/11 were Muslim, it wasn’t the muslim faith that was the cause of these events.

The ads are tastefully done and are very positive.  The more we know, the better we are as a nation.  Rep. King’s demands are bullshit!

Sources:

CNN - Islam Subway Ads Cause Stir In New York

Islamonline.net - Know Islam In New York Subway

Screwing Up Your Kids Is Bullshit!

By admin on Jul. 22, 2008.

Is it just me or does the Blogsphere seem to be overrun by Moms?  Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, and well, moms are usually pretty cool people.  And who doesn’t want to remember a bit about our childhood through the stories that can best be told by a mom.

But the blogsphere also seems to bring out another aspect of moms.  The Internet seems to embolden many of them to open up and display their flaws to the world.  This isn’t limited to moms, I’ve even opened up on my personal blog to my weight issues.  I look at my weight issue as my fault.  I made poor choices.

Apparently, that is where I part company with most of the bloggers out there.  While I take personal responsibility for my flaws, the rest of the bloggers have chemical/mental issues.  The blog becomes about their struggle against these issues.

No doubt some people do have chemical and mental issues.  But the volume of bloggers out there claiming these ailments is alarming.  If talking (or writing) about it helps them then all the better!  I congratulate them for stepping up and doing what they need to get better (or feel better).

But stop telling your kids they’re crazy!

First off, when we were kids, we all found it difficult to sit still.  Because we were kids!  We all struggled at something.  Because you can’t be good at everything and we aren’t all the same.  And no, we didn’t act like adults.  Because we weren’t adults.  Patience has given way to drugs.

Secondly, when you tell a kid they are ill (crazy, hyperactive, ADD, whatever) they absorb that way down deep.  It affects them in ways you will never be able to fix.  You are in a sense, breaking them down, and setting the bar much lower.  Great job, Mom!  As if I weren’t already dealing with enough.  Now I find out I’ve got these handicaps to live with for he rest of my life.

I don’t care what the doctor tells you.  Even if your kid does have some chemical or mental issues, don’t make it a center of reference in your dealings with them.  Kids need their parents to be anchors, their rocks in a turbulent time, and, yes, cheerleaders.

So, moms and dads, air your dirty laundry in public if you must.  But please, stop screwing up your kids.

Can You Cram For A Presidential Election?

By admin on Jul. 21, 2008.

We did it in high school, we did it in college and many of us probably still do it to some extent in our day to day jobs.  What is that?  We cram.  We hit the books, burn the midnight oil as they say, to get in just enough studying to pass the exam.  For Senator Obama, that exam is a presidential election.  And he is cramming his ass off!

So, now the papers will show him with world leaders and the public will once again be duped into believing that he gets it.  Guess what?  You don’t get anything with one road show.  It takes years and years of exposure to world events before you even have a clue what questions to ask.

I’d like to say that he’s wasting his time, but I know better.  This will work for the sole reason that the general public isn’t smart enough to call him on it.  And, he is saying exactly what Joe Q. Public wants to hear.

So, I guess you can cram for the presidency and pass.  And that is the most dangerous kind of bullshit there is.

Is Al Gore’s Chicken Little Routine Bullshit?

By admin on Jul. 18, 2008.

We all know Al Gore as the ex-VP (failed presidential candidate) who has the charisma of a pet rock.  The guy who claimed to have invented the Internet.  And the green house gas guru who won a Nobel Prize  for being the doomsayer until the scientific community and governments got their crap together.  Kinda batting one for three there, which is good enough for the major league, so I guess I shouldn’t call him out on this one.

Today I log on to CNN Online to find that he has taken on a new cross (I mean cause), the energy crisis.  Here is the article (CNN - Energy Crisis Threatens US Survival). It is a quick read, so bop on over and check it out, we’ll wait for ya…

Maybe because it took us too long to listen to him last time, he decided he needed a great hook.  How about the fall of America?  Hmmm?

No doubt the cost of energy is going to force some changes in the American lifestyle in the short term.  But to call for a fall of #1 is really a stretch for me.  We could do without another season of American Idol, but don’t you dare mess with Monday Night Football or WWE Raw.  We like our lifestyles just they way they are and we’re willing and able to make some compromises, but boom, all gone?

Mr. Gore is calling for us to move completely to renewable energy in 10 years.  Currently, renewable energy makes up a very small fraction of our supply.  whether it is nuclear plants, wind farms, or solar, establishing an adequate source of renewable energy is going to take a lot longer than that.

Here’s the deal.  There isn’t just one answer to this problem.  To make it so black and white is bullshit!  We need to transition, over an extended period of time.  That means we need to do both.  Drill more and put money into new technologies.  And people have to get off their high horse about certain aspects of the “plan”.  We need nuclear energy to play a big part in this transition and we need to allow the oil and gas companies to build and expand their refineries.

Many of the most brilliant people in the world life here.  They’re not about to give up their 1st world lives over something like this.  Resources will be allocated.  We will adapt, create, solve, build and deploy the technologies and plants needed to move forward.

The doomsayer comments are bullshit!  If you think we need extremists views to draw the mainstream to the path, then so be it.  But for the most part, you’ll look like an ass while you’re doing it.  I prefer the more reasonable touch.  But that’s just me.

P&T - Obesity Bullshit

By admin on Jul. 15, 2008.

So, for a little change, I thought I’d show you a bit of Penn & Teller from YouTube.  Given that I’m trying to lose weight, this one struck home.

Enjoy!

Part #1

P&T Obesity Bullshit - Part #1

Part #2

P&T Obesity Bullshit - Part #2

Part #3

P&T Obesity Bullshit - Part #3

More Political Hate Debate Bullshit!

By admin on Jul. 14, 2008.

I strongly questioned whether I would post this but figured that bullshit takes all shapes, sizes, and smells. My apologies to Senator Obama and his wife for even reprinting the picture.

Let that image sink in for a while…

The New Yorker Magazine says it is using this image as a lead in for an article about hate and politics. To that end, they hit it on the head. Commissioning and publishing this picture was hateful.

So, lets cut through the bullshit!

They are using this cover to sell more magazines. They could have used a picture/drawing of Senator Obama with his family, showing a positive light on a family man. The selling point would be the title and the article itself (novel concept, eh?). But that wouldn’t sell as many magazines.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid the New Yorker management and editorial staff actually believe their message will be heard. Yes, the worst is true. They believe their own bullshit!

Source: Politico.com - Ya Can’t Make It Up (Blog Post by Jonathan Martin)

Blaming Other People For Your Misfortune Is Bullshit

By admin on Jul. 10, 2008.

Did you decide what kind of day you were going to have or did you leave that up to someone else? — baldeagle on Twitter

If you’re reading this then you started today better off than over 70% of the rest of the world. Think about that for a minute. If higher fuel and food costs have you struggling, imagine what it would be like to have 1/100th of what you have now.

You’re sitting in front of a computer, one of the most empowering tools ever devised by man. And you have the gall to feel sorry for yourself? That, my friend, is utter and complete bullshit!

Seldom is one’s misfortune caused by someone else. More likely it was caused by callousness and sloth. Being lazy and blaming others for the results is bullshit.

On the rare occasion when someone does begin to exert unacceptable influence on your life, what do you do? Do you deflate or inflate? Most of the times, being a victim is a choice. If you didn’t make it a choice, then you likely chose not to choose.

We are all dealt our share of bad events. It is how you choose to deal with those events that defines the outcome. So quit blaming others and take control of your life. You’ll have less bullshit to deal with as a result.