Category: Insaneness

I recently saw this article on the regional airlines lowering their standards for pilots. The article (and the people quoted in the article) seems puzzled about why this is happening. It is happening because no one is going into aviation. Why? Here are some reasons:

Perhaps they see the airlines spending money like it is going out of style
Perhaps they look at the dumb business policies the airlines have that contribute to their losing money
Perhaps they talk to people who used to love to fly but now are no more than bus drivers in the air
Perhaps they see and hear about the massive layoffs that happened just a few years ago that are preventing people from flying for the majors.

Perhaps they talk to people like my dad who love to fly but at the peak of their career can’t even get Christmas off. At a time when a senior captain should be flying an international schedule of his choice, many pilots can’t even get their last Christmas off. Once the airlines start treating their pilots like the skilled profesionals they are instead of a number, you’ll see more people going into the profession.

I don’t like this. And I don’t like Rick Warren. I don’t care what he says, this does nothing to advance the Kingdom. Why? I don’t see how a person can be a Christian (a real saved Christian…one who follows Jesus…not simply a cultural Christian) and support someone who believes it is ok to kill little babies (aka abortion). How does being unequally yoked with an unbeliever advance the Kingdom?

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/11/hillary_clinton_to_speak_at_ri.php

Who ever would have thought we had so much junk!  Today, we had a yard sale to sell some stuff before moving overseas.  I took some pictures and wanted to share them with you guys.  Here they are:

 

 Thanks to everyone who helped us with the sale by helping and buying stuff!  Just in case you are interested, we do have some leftovers.  For more information, look at this post .

From a BBC Sports article about Michael Rasmussen

He reportedly tested non-negative for a banned substance

What in the world is “non-negative?” Isn’t that positive? Is there some grey area that represents not negative and not positive?

If you haven’t heard, today (07/07/07) was chosen by Algore and others to have an SOS Live Earth concert thing.  From the website (no, I’m not linking to it):

Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

 Reading more on their site, you find out that the concerts are happening in “…Giants Stadium in New York; Wembley Stadium in London; Aussie Stadium in Sydney; Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg; Makuhari Messe in Tokyo; the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai; and HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.”

The last time I checked, that is only 6 continents represented…not 7.  Let’s see if I have that right:

• New York = North America
• London = Europe
• Sydney = Australia
• Rio de Janeiro = South America
• Johannesburg = Africa
• Tokyo = Asia
• Shanghai = Asia
• Hamburg = Europe

 The continents are:

• North America (check)
• Europe (check)
• Australia (check)
• South America (check)
• Africa (check)
• Asia (check)
• Antarctica (nope)

 I think they are misrepresenting their movement.  It doesn’t include 7 continents…only 6 are represented.

The guy suing a dry cleaners for $54mil lost.

A judge ruled Monday that no pair of pants is worth $54 million, rejecting a lawsuit that took a dry cleaner’s promise of “Satisfaction Guaranteed” to its most litigious extreme.

Roy L. Pearson became a worldwide symbol of legal abuse by seeking jackpot justice from a simple complaint—that a neighborhood dry cleaners lost the pants from a new suit and tried to give him a pair that were not his.

His claim, reduced from $67 million, was based on a strict interpretation of the city’s consumer protection law—which imposes fines of $1,500 per violation, per day—as well as damages for inconvenience, mental anguish and attorney’s fees for representing himself.

But District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled that the owners of Custom Cleaners did not violate the consumer protection law by failing to live up to Pearson’s expectations of the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign once displayed in the store window.

“A reasonable consumer would not interpret ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’ to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer’s unreasonable demands,” the judge wrote.

This makes me think of a saying I saw on a sign once: “A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

Why don’t American’s simply apply for passports on-time? Heck, why don’t they apply for a passport for their kids along with a birth certificate, social security card, etc….???

http://www.mercurynews.com/lifeandstyleheadlines/ci_6192424

I just want to go on record saying that I think this is a goofy way to make money.

http://www.samerwriter.com/2007/01/18/credit-card-arbitrage-phase-one/

From http://www.leaveitbehind.com/home/2006/12/toys_of_our_own.html

→ A third-grader in Rome, Ga., says he tries to tell his father to put the BlackBerry down, but can't even get his attention. "Sometimes I think he's deaf," says the 9-year-old.

→ The ninth-grade student in Port Washington, N.Y., says she has caught her parents typing emails on their Treos during her eighth-grade awards ceremony, at dinner and in darkened movie theaters.

→ His dad, private banker Ross Singletary, calls it [typing while driving] "a legit concern." He adds: "Some emails are important enough to look at en route."

→ The children of one New Jersey executive mandate that their mom ignore her mobile email from dinnertime until their bedtime. To get around their dictates, the mother hides the gadget in the bathroom, where she makes frequent trips before, during and after dinner.

→ The therapist advised that the family dinner table be an email-free zone.

→ "Even though I'm home, I'm not necessarily there."

→ Jim Balsillie, the chairman of Research In Motion [creator of the BlackBerry], says children should ask themselves, "Would you rather have your parents 20% not there or 100% not there?"