Idiot Sightings

Stolen shamelessly and verbatim from a comment on ZeroHedge :

IDIOT SIGHTING
We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, "Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower." I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, "NO, it's not. Four is larger than two." We haven't used Sears repair since.

IDIOT SIGHTING:

My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, "You gave me too much money." I said, "Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back." She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said "We're sorry but we cannot do that kind of thing." The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I live in a semi-rural area We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: "Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore." From Kingman, KS.

IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE:
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.

From Kansas City IDIOT SIGHTING:

I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?" To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?" He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."

Happened in Birmingham, Ala. IDIOT SIGHTING:

The stop-light on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged co-worker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, "What on earth are blind people doing driving? She was a probation officer in Wichita, KS.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I attended a "good-bye" luncheon for an old and dear co-worker. She was leaving the company due to 'downsizing.' Our manager commented cheerfully, "This is fun. We should do this more often." Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that "deer-in-the-headlights" stare. This was a lunch at Texas Instruments.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on. A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriff's office, no less.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "It's open!" His reply, "I know. I already got that side." This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, MS.

I love this one!: When I left Hawaii and was transferred to FL, I still had the Hawaiian plates on my car, as my car was shipped from Hawaii . I was parking somewhere (I can't remember) and a guy asked me "Wow, you drove from Hawaii to here?" I looked at him and quickly said "Yep. I took the Hawaii/San Francisco Bridge." He nodded his head and said "Cool!" STAY ALERT! They walk among us. and they VOTE. and they REPRODUCE.

A in law, F in composition

There's just something wrong about that sentence structure. Lawyers, despite all urban myths to contrary, write very well.

in reference to:

"We take pride in our clients' successes, and the confidence and trust they place in us."
- HARTBELL,LLC Attorneys at Law - Vincennes, Indiana (view on Google Sidewiki)

This does bode well

This county is on the Northeastern side of Florida, on the Atlantic. Reports from the gulf are that as the oil spreads, the sea life that live in the deep come nearer to shore. I wonder if this is just a first sign of problems on the Atlantic side.

in reference to:

"Sea wasps are usually found in deeper water, so staying close to shore is the best way to prevent being stung."
- RSOE EDIS - Biological Hazard in USA on 10.07.2010. EDIS CODE: BH-20100710-26899-USA (view on Google Sidewiki)

The odds are eventually going to be stacked against you

I drive over 100,000 miles a year, some of them for work, others for pure enjoyment because I simply like to MOVE.

I tell my friends that eventually the odds are going to be stacked against me and eventually I'm going to have a wreck. They claim I'm full of shit and that I have the minor wrecks I've had simply because I'm careless. I always knew they were the ones full of shit.

I'm going to have to point them to this article.

in reference to:

"Accidents are most correlated to the number of miles driven. To put it in in actuarial terms, miles driven is an exposure variable, and is multiplicative, while negligence is a class variable, and additive."
- .CSV » new developments in AI (view on Google Sidewiki)

Prove

I must write the big red "PROVE" along the margin. This could be the result of risk compensation--people feel they can take more risks because they're more secure-- or it could be the result of successful social engineering by seat belt laws.

in reference to:

"We could not simply look at people who already wear seatbelts and those who do not, because the people who naturally wear seatbelts are more likely to be naturally cautious drivers."
- .CSV » new developments in AI (view on Google Sidewiki)

Life amongst the clueless

Even a cursory read of England's historic behavior with its neighbors would answer this question.

in reference to:

"As the World Cup kicks off, many football fans from the UK's celtic nations say they will support ABE - Anyone But England. Why does this inflame so much passion on both sides?"
- BBC News - What's behind Anyone But England? (view on Google Sidewiki)

Three hots and a cot

I think it's very bizarre that mental health professionals would want to withhold treatment from some one who asks for it, but would want to shove treatment down the throat of some one who doesn't want it. It's such a Catch-22.

In the US, malingering, or whatever the DSM now calls it, is a recognized mental illness. Therefore, psychiatry can bill for it. However, this guy seems to be after three hots and a cot. If he violates his ASBO, I guess he'll get his way.

in reference to: BBC News - Man 'banned' from using the NHS (view on Google Sidewiki)

What all the fuss over cadmium?

It's all natural and a perfectly legit element on the periodic table. A little heavy metal never hurt anyone.

in reference to: McDonald's to recall 'Shrek' glass cups, citing cadmium health risks - latimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Of course it does a terrible job

By not defining normal, psychotherapy can pathologize anything it feels like pathologizing and make much more money.

in reference to:

"Our culture does a pretty terrible job educating us about normal human functioning."
- Jung’s Red Book and what is normal anyway? (news roundup) « Beyond Meds (view on Google Sidewiki)

Meditation

I've learned to love weight training. I wish I had discovered years before I did. It's a wonderful hypnotic, repetitive behavior that requires deep contemplation. I've learned that it has very little to do with manipulating objects in physical space but everything to do with looking deep inside one's self and learning to merge the self with the physical body.

in reference to:

"How about you? Have you ever found an activity that connected you with your body? How was your first experience with this? Was it therapeutic for you?"
- Finding My Body in Pilates « Voice in Recovery (view on Google Sidewiki)

Huh?

Those angles would be helpfully be provided by establishment psychiatrists, who would also be happy to downplay and minimize the less than positive stories. It's absolutely impossible to get the full, unvarnished truth from any of these people.

in reference to:

"It's probably true to say that 20th century psychiatry was not exactly a litany of success stories, although it would have been useful to hear some of the more positive angles as well."
- Mind Hacks: From madhouse to medication (view on Google Sidewiki)

There seems to be some weird post hoc, propter hoc going on here but I can't identify it

At any rate, I guess the new line is, The markets can stay weirdly rational longer than you can stay conventionally solvent.

in reference to: The weirdly rational flash crash | Analysis & Opinion | (view on Google Sidewiki)

Very cool site

There's absolutely nothing weird to download onto your computer's hard drive.

in reference to: Mahjongg Solitaire Games online (view on Google Sidewiki)

Dr. HousingBubble's Real Homes of Genius is always, well, Genius

From what I understand, the Federal Reserve purchased a lot of the really bad stuff on the banks' balance sheets and parked it in one of the Maiden Lane "credit facilities" on the taxpayers' dime. Recent reports indicate that the Fed is in no rush to sell this junk. There are no greater fools to be found anywhere.

in reference to:

"So how in the world can these banks make all this money when they have stuff like this on their balance sheet?"
- Real Homes of Genius – 1 out of 7 homeowners not paying mortgage or in foreclosure. Examples in Pasadena. 672 square feet apartment for $385,000. 676 square feet home became equity machine. » Dr. Housing Bubble Blog (view on Google Sidewiki)

A page of the same old tired canards

There are so many here I don't know where to begin.

Let's start with this ahistorical view:

...It went from a private, furtively practiced, vice to an open and accepted subculture. In many circles, ``sodomite'' ceased to be an insult. This acceptance led to the toleration, and wide practice, of gross homosexual promiscuity. HIV, falling onto that fertile soil, made the AIDS epidemic. Even before AIDS was recognized, practicing homosexuals were notorious for a high rate of venereal diseases....

No, sir, homosexual relations were practiced far more frequently in Western culture prior to the advent of the Pill. Prior to the Pill, prostitutes were expensive and nice girls simply didn't do it. It was quite common for men who identified themselves as heterosexual to seek out quick homosexual companionship. My gay friends who were of age when the Kinsey report came out in 1948 scoffed that only about 40% of the American male population had engaged in man-on-man relations.From their experiences and perspectives it was more like 60-70%. Like masturbation, these liaisons were something that was never discussed in polite company.

Let's make homophobia an equal opportunity employer:

...Homophobia is the moral judgement that homosexual behavior (most of the arguments in this essay refer specifically to male homosexual behavior) is wrong...

He really needs to make some arguments about the lesbian kind. Oh, wait, lesbians are the one cohort of the population that are least likely to have HIV. Never mind.

...it is a moral judgement upon acts engaged in by choice...

The mind-blowing thing is that this guy calls himself a scientist. Brain structures of homosexual men are unlike those of heterosexual men. We all know this. The last time I looked I couldn't chose my brain. I somehow wonder if he is also a closet Creationist on the side?

in reference to: In Defense of Homophobia (view on Google Sidewiki)

Mortgage Delinquencies

Of course, reports of mortgage delinquencies are going to drop when the banks refuse to report them because they don't want to show how bad their mortgage balance sheet actually is and how insolvent they really are.

in reference to:

"The rate of 60+ day delinquencies among US mortgages fell 12 basis points (bps) to 6.77% in Q110, from 6.89% in the previous quarter, according to market research by credit bureau TransUnion."
- TransUnion Sees Delinquency Fall for First Quarter Since 2006 « HousingWire (view on Google Sidewiki)

Kendra's Law

Even if Kendra's Law is extended, it could merely be a moot point with massive budget shortfalls in all the states, including New York. Mental Health services and Medicaid are generally the first to be cut. Or at least, we can hope the psychiatric beast will be starved.

One question that I have, however, is about this new National Health Insurance Law. I have never read it, but there has been some mention of it providing for medical research. Is human experimentation by psychiatry provided for in this new law, I wonder?

in reference to: Kendra’s Law — Five More Years? « Spit, Bristle and Fury (view on Google Sidewiki)

April 23, 2010

Well, I guess we can see why the FDIC opened a big branch office in Chicago. A person can only assume that there are more where these came from.

in reference to: FDIC: Failed Bank List (view on Google Sidewiki)

IRS Officer Liable for Taxes on $41,842 in EBay Sales

“Petitioner’s attitude toward the preparation of her tax returns appeared to be cavalier,” the U.S. Tax Court opinion said.

She sounds just like her Boss Timmay.

in reference to:

"“Petitioner’s attitude toward the preparation of her tax returns appeared to be cavalier,” the U.S. Tax Court opinion said."
- IRS Officer Liable for Taxes on $41,842 in EBay Sales (Update2) - Bloomberg.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Persecution

In other words, persecution wasn’t holding the Jewish community back — it was pushing it forward.

The reason, according to Veblen, was that Jews were perpetual outsiders, which filled them with a “skeptical animus.” Because they had no vested interest in “the alien lines of gentile inquiry,” they were able to question everything, even the most cherished of assumptions.

And this is also one of the great privileges of being a gay man. And one of the things that youngsters want to dismiss.

in reference to: Accept Defeat: The Neuroscience of Screwing Up | Magazine (view on Google Sidewiki)

Google Sidewiki entry by Marlboro

I didn't know it was.

in reference to:

"why is science so successful?"
- Accept Defeat: The Neuroscience of Screwing Up | Magazine (view on Google Sidewiki)

Welcome to the www

where the corrosion of authority has been acceptable since Day 1. I'm glad to see you're finally getting the memo.

in reference to:

"The ease with which students or parents can defame and ridicule teachers on social networking sites such as Facebook is increasingly alarming schools and the education union, which says it is a growing problem."
- School sues parent for bitter website (view on Google Sidewiki)

Yah, right

Everyone else is expecting bread and circuses.

in reference to:

"parents should not be looking to the government to provide entertainment for their children"
- Flash Mobs Take Violent Turn in Philadelphia - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Gravy Train is Coming to an End

I am so saddened that a group of middle class professionals are seeing their pay checks cut right before their eyes. Perhaps the state realizes that it is getting very little value for its money, so this is some of the first pork to be chopped off. Thank goodness psychiatry will have to leave some of its victims alone. It's so amazing how a person can become well enough to be released from coercive services when the money runs out.

in reference to: http://acmhck.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=363 - Powered by Google Docs (view on Google Sidewiki)

Arrest at Wal-Mart After Racial Slur

I'm assuming he realized exactly how hurtful his comments were. That's why he made them

in reference to:

""I'm assuming this person didn't realize how hurtful his comments were," she said."
- Arrest At Wal-Mart After Racial Announcement In New Jersey (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Real Problem with Public Education

is not the teachers, but the parents.

in reference to:

"The problem with public education, they claimed, was the teachers. And of course not all teachers were performing badly in their jobs. No it was the teachers in unions that were dragging down our educational system."
- Diary of a Heartland Radical (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Real Crisis in Mental Health Care

I'm all for helping the mentally ill, but many times the treatment is seen as coercive and less than benign. One of the problems with government subsidies for the mentally ill is that a large percentage of the money goes to employ middle class professionals, with very little of it actually trickling down to the people it's supposed to help.

in reference to: Pension Pulse: The Real Crisis in Health Care? (view on Google Sidewiki)

Iceland, the Mouse that Roared

Iceland is the lone bright spot in this financial mess.

Prior to this mess, Icelanders were considered the brightest, hippest population in the entire world. They were the first to adopt innovation and embrace change. Analysts who watched the tech sector noted they were 6 to 12 months ahead of the Japanese in adapting to new technologies and at least a good 18 months ahead of the Americans. They seem to be a highly educated and engaged people.

It is so sad that I have to look outside of America for other people to point to the right path.

in reference to: The Silver Bear Cafe (view on Google Sidewiki)

So what I'm hearing here, doctors

is that they're not responsible for their behavior. Nice.

in reference to:

""It may be that because of these exaggerated dopamine responses, once they focus on the chance to get a reward, psychopaths are unable to alter their attention until they get what they're after," Buckholtz said. Added Zald, "It's not just that they don't appreciate the potential threat, but that the anticipation or motivation for reward overwhelms those concerns.""
- Psychopaths' brains wired to seek rewards, no matter the consequences (view on Google Sidewiki)

Timmy Must Be Fired, Or Obama Must Be Impeached

Why can't we have both?

in reference to: Timmy Must Be Fired, Or Obama Must Be Impeached - The Market Ticker (view on Google Sidewiki)

I think

that most of the democratically-elected governments thought that as well. And now they all have big headaches.

in reference to:

"“I think the government really regrets the Internet,” he said, pausing for effect. “Originally, they thought it would be like the newspaper or the television — just another way to get their view out to the people. What they didn’t realize is that people can type and talk back. This is giving them a really big headache.”"
- Saturday Profile - Heartthrob’s Blog Challenges China’s Leaders - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Death of Mortgage Refinance Looms

They're rather short sighted in discussing death. The real death will occur as interest rates rise and homeowners are prudently locked into these 30-yr low rate loans. I wouldn't want to be an investor holding these notes.

in reference to: The Death of Mortgage Refinance Looms (view on Google Sidewiki)

Second Thoughts

And now they're getting queasy over throwing money down the giant rat hole that is ditech.com.* When this lender became an FDIC-insured bank, the troubles with the mortgage market and bad mortgages were far from over but just getting started.

*d/b/a GMAC Mortgage Corp

in reference to: TARP Oversight Panel Finds Fault With GMAC Bailouts - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

It's called empirical evidence

And I thought science eschewed "faith" and "belief."

in reference to:

"Some have suggested that critics of antidepressant efficacy should keep quiet and not publicize their work.  The reasoning is that if the effectiveness of antidepressants depends in large part on the faith of patients and their doctors,"
- Antidepressants: Do They "Work" or Don't They?: Scientific American (view on Google Sidewiki)

Afghan curbs on live media coverage of Taliban attacks

In the future, everything in the present will be tape delayed 15 minutes.

in reference to:

"Afghan curbs on live media coverage of Taliban attacks"
- BBC News - Afghan curbs on live media coverage of Taliban attacks (view on Google Sidewiki)

Why we should be frightened of BoBos

When their 401(k)s are finally cleaned out and they have no money to afford the art pottery, they'll bring out their old SDS cards, dust off those worn, well-thumbed copies of Marx and raise Holy Cain in the streets because they're not getting theirs.

in reference to: Why Bobos Rule - Newsweek.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Dukes of Moral Hazard

I think they're calling it "behavioral economics."

Our financial leaders have become like The Black Knight on the Bridge. They're proclaiming that the current morass is only a flesh wound, while anybody with a lick of sense sees a deep malignant cancer that threatens to consume the entire body.

in reference to:

"We’ll call it the Rules of Advocacy Scholarship in the Discussion of Money in Post-Bretton Woods America, or RASDMPBWA. Rule One: Unless absolutely necessary, ignore the existence of countervailing fact or theory; just make a breezy assertion, then let your prestige and the credulity of your audience do the rest. This is especially important in situations in which objective external circumstances have revealed your position to be untenable, and the only accurate predictions and prescriptions are to be found in the opposing camp. Rule Two: If you feel you must provide some sort of argument in support of said assertion, use inapposite anecdote, false analogy and slippery pseudo-reasoning. Rule Three: If you feel you must cite some authority for your assertion, keep it safely within the family of Keynesians and monetarists and Establishment celebrities."
- commentary36 (view on Google Sidewiki)

ZeroHedge is always choice

but this article is the el primo, top drawer stuff. Definitely worth a read.

in reference to:

"This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied"
- This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied | zero hedge (view on Google Sidewiki)