Are You Stimulated

An economist I'm not. Understanding the infinite layers of the political onion and how each of those layers may or may not affect my day-to-day life — not so much.

What I think is that there can't possibly be just one villain to blame for the current state of our economy.

Damn AIG! Those no good thieves ruined our economy, stole our money, and are living the high-life. Really? I cannot force myself to believe that one company, no matter how big or poorly managed could have possibly put us in the state we find ourselves in today. Should the AIG execs have been given their bonuses? Perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to take up the torches.

I recently read the resignation letter of Jake DeSantis as it was published in the New York Times. He makes quite a compelling case that not only should his bonus have been paid, but maybe we should all calmdown a little and take a breath.

How quickly we forget the record setting profits made by oil companies in 2007 while gas prices were at all time highs. This I related to directly. This took money right out of my wallet. This caused me to realign my budget with what my "needs" were. I needed to get to work, therefore needed to pay $100.00 - $120.00 every two weeks to get there. This was when I noticed the economy taking a nose-dive. Well before I know anything of the housing market. All I knew was that weirdo Canadian money was worth more than ours.

I don't know about you, but when I hear about the Government bailing someone out, it just doesn't register. It all seems a bit theoretical. I figure a bunch of money I'll never see is going to be wasted somewhere. A "Bridge to Nowhere", flight allotments to hunt wolves from planes, saving a tree or owl I've never seen of heard of. The new style of waste seems to be bailing out companies run by people so out of touch with people like me there is no reasonable expectation for them to even try.

Here's What You Do
Actually ask yourself who cares? Do you, really? I feel like I should care, but upon honest self reflection I can admit that I just don't. Dollars-to-Dounuts if the "news" stopped harping on it everyone would stop caring, kind of like the war. Is that still going on? There are real things to be upset about. There are actual things that we can have some say in. Local and State governmnets are all to dysfunctional for us to assume that bellyaching will be cause enough for change on a national scale. If social justice and the good of the common man are your thing, take a look around your city or town. I'll bet you could find something or someone that you could really help.

By the way, just filled up, $2.06 , it was $1.89 two days ago.

Lt. Dangle

Lieutenant James "Jim" Ron Dangle is the highest-ranking deputy in the Reno Sheriff's department and is almost always seen wearing his trademark short-shorts, which he wears for "mobility."

He hints at a possible attraction to Jones and occasionally flirts with suspects. In one episode, Jones apparently had sex with him out of sympathy, after which Dangle was hospitalized because, as Jones put it, "He can't walk."

Dangle was married for a time to a woman named Debbie and he briefly believed that he had a son (a result of sex with what he thought was a drag queen), but DNA results proved otherwise.

Dangle is a former maitre d' and member of the United States Coast Guard who was stationed in Hawaii and who was discharged from the Coast Guard for reasons undisclosed. In Episode 102, his age is noted as 41. Dangle's father abandoned his family when he was a child and his mother committed suicide, after which he was raised by his Uncle Frederick. Meanwhile, Dangle's father moved to Chicago and started a new family with an African American spouse. Dangle's father had two more children. (Dangle's black half-brother and black half-sister pay Dangle a visit after the death of their father to settle the will, which later turns out to be a bill for the funeral of more than $5,000, and a Banana Splits keychain that the sister gives to Dangle).

Dangle is also the subject of a running gag in which his police bicycle is repeatedly stolen or vandalized. It is hinted that Dep. Junior is responsible for some of these incidents.

Music Sucking?

Have you ever noticed that for whatever reason there is never anything to listen to on the radio, satellite is playing the same songs as "regular" radio? Are you overwhelmed by the selection on iTunes, and don't want to pay 10 bucks for an album you may or may not like, and are too lazy to create custom playlists from individually purchased songs?
Me too.
Does your iPod have the same music on it as the CDs you bought it to replace? Do you have a tough time shuffling your music to match your mood, or spend more time arranging songs to accompany the task you are doing than the task itself takes to do?
Me too.

Here's what you do
I'm not sure how long it's been there, but I've been using it for around a year. It's called Pandora Radio. If you have heard of it great, if not, it may be the answer you have been looking for. It is free streaming internet radio. There are pre-made genre stations to listen to, but the best thing is that you can create your own station based on a song or artist you like. You can type in a song and Pandora creates a "station" for you based on qualities that the song possesses. These qualities are defined by the Music Genome Project. You can further refine each station by giving each song either a thumbs up or down as it is being played.

Have a couple of stations you like? Mix them. This thing has been fantastic and I just wanted to share. There's nothing better than following T-Pain with a little Conway Twitty. pandora.com