My school’s big event was our Christmas Spectacular.  Well, bit of a stretch calling it that.  I don’t think our modest staff would have been so presumptuous.  It started on the basketball court.  No, grow up.  The school had a modest basketball court on the third floor with a stage at one end.  In the weeks leading up to Christmas, about 2/3rds of that was covered with folding chairs. There we sang and recited for a good month prior.  About all I still have fixed in my mind is that excelsis deo is pronounced egg-shell-sis day-o.  And, combining grades K-8, we would recited the scripture for the event.  The child would stand; face about to the congregation; recite their line; reverse; sit; next.  It had to be excruciating even for proud grandmothers.

Those were simple days; maybe a bit primitive.  Christmas was less confusing.  There weren’t pickets at the courthouse creche.  Madayn Murray O’Hair was classed a nutcase and just a bit of spice in all that.  We liked our absolutes absolutely.   Many of us were destined to become hippies and yuppies but we were unaware.   Yup, fat, dumb and happy.  Probably (understatement alert) a bit boring too.

But, I do recall a warm glow sitting in that pew — candle lit, cherubic voices, stumbling lines.   It gave me a feeling lost to time.

We’re days away from what is important for many of us.  It includes ham and present and dreidels and gelt and maybe even a bit of Wiccan for spice.  Whatever your flavor, it is nice to believe in something.  That is what I’m looking forward too.  I hope you’ll find the same in the days ahead.

ADDENDUM:

Tis the season and something always comes along to add some interest and expand on the idea…

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

No related posts.

The other day a factoid in a news article grabbed my attention:

Half of all persons under the age of 23 have a RAP sheet.  (Record of Arrest and Prosecution)  Wha?  I mean: what is going on?  I thought about it a bit.  Yup, another side effect of the UIGEA.   Well, you’ve got to throw in similar legislation but that is one of the many indicators.  You can watch Cops and some loser getting busted for a bit of grass.   The car gets towed or seized.  The guy misses work because he in jail.   Handcuffed and taken from are streets to protect you and me. Next week he out of a job and on the dole and in our pockets.

Well, there it is in a nutshell.   Oh, it is minor consuming.  It might be a host of other things.   We point to it as a breakdown in society.  Doesn’t deserve a closer look.  These are scumbags so we feel protected and righteous.

Thinking about it gave me pause.   It wasn’t long ago I watch the Prohibition special on PBS.  Demon rum sure made for the same sound bit.  Statistic quoted similar horrors to family and society.   Unfortunately, the Great Experiment laid an egg.  What resulted was a law that created law breakers.  That is what the UIGEA and similar nanny legislation is doing.   It is breaking society and showing young and old that abusive laws break down society more than they help it.

One of the tricks used by politicians is to offload responsibility for failings.   They move it to the regulatory side with that host of unintended consequences.   We saw it with the bank meltdown.   The result was abusive legislation that penalized and added requirements.  But, think about it.  There are a host of laws going back to English Common Law that are about what took place.  Not one bank or bank officer has been prosecuted.   Why do we need more laws to poorly enforce?   And, that contributes to people ignoring the UIGEA and whatever.

Right now there are some really abusive laws in the works.   SOPA is a poster child.   It may break the Internet.   Compliance officer have going from a guy with a harried look to whole department in most companies.  It is a cost of doing business that does not contribute to growth.  It turns kids under 23 and business owners and leaders and you and me into scoff law angle shooters.

We have created a better society or better citizens supposedly by law upon law.  The added complexity created an environment where average, normal, guy up the street people ignore bad laws that either aren’t or can’t be enforced.   And over half of those under 23 figured it out and got had by the stupidity of our Nation of Laws.

Bad boys!  Bad Boys!  Watcha gonna do?  Watcha gonna do when they come for you?

ADDENDUM:

I mentioned SOPA and provided a link.  This law really goes beyond the regulatory avoidance loved by politicians.   It gives the Justice Department jurisdiction.  But, it also place enforcement in the hands of the Industry lobbying for its passage.  Think about that.  Some private corporation is being given enforcement rights.   That is beyond rational ideas.

Related posts:

1. Bank Laws Suck — Darn Politicians

The post was about Newegg breaking supposed rules.  They did it with abandon.   Wolfie’s comment  is a standard and minor disagreement that we have.  He likes rules (laws) more than I do.  We don’t disagree on human failings just addressing them.

Amazon had specific rules that favor the customer.  Newegg is more restrictive with rules galore that they are willing to break.  Neither is like our form of government.  Both give thought to what they have brought about after the fact.  That the basis for the disagreement with Wolfie.  If you have a collection of rules, they need flexibility.  Without that you the situation that caused my less than deserved ire with Newegg.

Why Wall Street’s inclusion?  Is there a place with more  rules set in stone?  Is there a place more codified than the corporate world being picketed as we speak?  Is the solution more rules or is the solution allowing for more flexibility ala Newegg?  Wolfie’s solution is more rules to correct wrongs.  Forget that solution isn’t working?

I included online poker in my quote noted above.  It is an example that got us all exercised from time to time.  Rules and more rules being interpreted by petty support people that would be right at home in a federal agency where they interpret what they wish … in context or not.  Being right didn’t get us anywhere.  We still jumped through hoops and got madder about it.  Federalism gone bonkers.

Libertarians are accused of not wanting any rules.  There are rants about wanting them to return to Wild West days — gunfights at the OK corral.  Such a world would seem to ignore past wrongs.  But, more rules seem capable not only of addressing issues but adding wrongs.  The world isn’t like Newegg or Amazon.  Real laws lack flexibility.  And written out they get reinterpreted by functionaries with agendas.

It a damned if you do (Wolfie) and damned if you don’t (me) way of doing things.  The real problem is revisiting the rules like Newegg.   We see that rules fail with cause and effect. We aren’t willing to adjust.

Near the end of a recent blog I quoted Santayana. Here is part:

The future of moral evolution is accordingly infinite, but its character is more and more determinate at every step. Mankind can never, without perishing, surrender its animal nature, its need to eat and drink, its sexual method of reproduction, its vision of nature, its faculty of speech, its arts of music, poetry, and building.

Both the left and the right are on the warpath.  Both are ignoring the obvious.  Either can support the egregious actions that seem to support their cause.  In that, they ignore that the solutions both propose make things worse — time and again.

We cannot legislate away from what Santayana says about who and what we are.  Successful rules that change that will, over time, be negated by that self-interest.  The real problems are one that Wolfie doesn’t want to see and I often won’t see.  But, at least Newegg found a workable solution outside the box.  Somehow the rest of society need to migrate in that direction.  The current solution of law after law doesn’t do it.  They ignore Santayana’s truths about us.

No related posts.

I’ll get back to the title.  I fear this blog will be a bit long.  That gets criticized and even leads to separate Waffle’s hate blog.  To avoid his ire, I’ll do some extra work and do the Blog 2.0 thing that I am too lazy to do most of the time — include some weak picture like I was USA Today.

The idea is a play on words.  I made a purchase from newegg.com and I don’t recall ever be much madder or happier.  It is a great example of libertarian, Wall Street, Online poker and so on.  Let me start with an outline to avoid a book length blog.

Let me insert  a bit of making fun of friend Bastion.  I am not certain but he has to be just up the road a piece and playing gentlemen farmer not far from the scene of the crime book — the Chimacum valley.  I will go on record that he and DW are closer to the couple at the top of the poster than those at the bottom.  Well he and the guy at the bottom may have the same valet dresser.

Back to the topic for a moment…

• computer died, Dell replaced, I bought blank drive to replace drive with all my PW and personal info
• put extra in next computer, it too died, pulled drive out to keep warranty
• ordered cabinet, came with missing parts, went postal about it (drive had game I like to play!)
• Not quite postal but not really me.

OK, all that set me apart from my normal, lovable self that endears me so to New England women. (No link   The title of my email about the Newegg screwup was:  “Get your act together”.  Cheap shot — I love cheap shots; you can’t be accused of trying to deal death shot … even when you are.

Amazon was the perfect online retailer with a whole set of ‘entitlements’ and for a while even included a pre-authorized UPS ticket to return things.  It harkened back to the businesses of my much younger days.  That’s changed but they’ll still outperform most and I was regretting finding the item I needed at Newegg instead of Amazon when the missing part helped ruin the day.

I went to their site to get an RMA.   It offered to print out a UPS ticket I could use.  They wanted $11.60 for the pickup that was free at Amazon.  Smoke came out of the ears.  I was a $30 item.  Grrrrrrrrrr!   So, I entered the email in their online form which all the online bastards seem to be migrating too.  Amazon has slipped to this too.   Got the automated response and no followup.  They have chat so I went there.  Agent quickly broke “their rules” and sent me a prepaid UPS but I had to haul it to the UPS office — no biggy.  I am sort of happy.

I order a different external drive enclosure.  I pay $2.99 for expedited shipping.  They (and Amazon) don’t get shipment out like they use to and this promises same day shipping.  I figure I’ll get it Friday doing that.  They screw up and don’t get it out until the next day; package arrived Monday.  Couldn’t play favorite game over the weekend.  Hey it is only $3 but I’m PO’d. I write again demanding $2.99 refund.   Rules are again bent and I get that.

I went to their site to enter a review.  I am happy with the replacement and see that it now has a $3 rebate available.  This one was cheaper ($22 w. s/h) and I’m happy until I see that I ordered it one day before the discount code went up.  Another email demanding price protection.  The reply is they don’t have price protection but they again bend the rules and I get a $3 credit.

I’m not really a cheap bastard.  Honest! OK, leave off the cheap and…

Why this tale?  Well, it is Wolfshead‘s fault.  Here is one of his comments.  I actually woke up a bit early thinking about it.  This blog is a lead in toward the follow up that will attempt to tie this all together.  I’ll quit here so Waffle’s doesn’t start a blog knocking just me.  Ha, Waffles got 2 links and Josie is one down.  That’ll make her mad[der] and look — one more plus.

No related posts.

Bill Rini avoided the theatrics and finally gave us his take.  Good timing.  The dust had sort of settled; we yo-yo’d between highs and lows — emphasizing lows.  Bill’s look is dead on.  You can pop over there for a read.  Announcing combos are historic.  You got the nuts and bolts guy and then the dumbass that is named Van Patten “Color Commentator” to avoid overly  insulting him.  I am going to play the color guy.  No stretch, right?

Rini nails it and had the street cred for such a blog.  I’ll bounce around with a few shots of the drunken participants thrown in to liven thing up — hey, that’s my job.

If you’ve been to Vegas, you ran across this guy.  He has this hollow stare with a steaming wife in tow.  They got there and the worst thing possible happened — he won big.  Then he had the worst Vegas idea: I am smart and will win bunches more.   Even Waffles could explaine to him what comes next.

Full Tilt knocked the first-worst out of the park.   You’d think such savvy gamblers had watch it happen and wouldn’t get taken in.  Online poker is:  Cash Cow, License to Print Money, The Honey Pot, The Golden Goose, etc.  Wrap that all up in one neat bow.  First Rookie mistake… CHECK!

Now these were savvy gamblers and the UIGEA hit.  They said as one, “Cooler!” but their business prospered.  Roll out the next cliché.  Gift horse?  Mouth?  Think they are as smart as the press/pr?   CHECK CHECK CHECK and throw in one more check for the major mistake listed earlier.

If you were around before the UIGEA hit, the same stupid ideas populated the net.  I had a friend who was caught up in it and found the suckers investors to help buy a skin.  Everybody wanted a skin or site.  The fallout from that was avoided by that person because the UIGEA came along.  Some got whole from the expansion stupidity at a cost; others, like Poker Room, got destroyed by their greed. It was all accidental.  No braincells where damaged in the process.

OK, square it then multiply it by itself.   That how far Full Tilt went beyond all the past recipients of a free bus ticket — compliments of Benny Binnion.  Like the guy who hit the progressive jackpot, there was so much money there it seemed impossible to go wrong.  All that idea does is help pay the neon bill for the day.

I don’t know Bitar.  He isn’t overly bright would be my guess.  In the midst of the California housing bubble he was buying multiple mansions.  I am sure he isn’t pure dumb but he sure wasn’t ready for the position.  He was probably the first to believe the knob polishing from Michael Craig who waxed poetic about that mystical Uncle Tilty.

The rest are your typical pack of nice and not quit nice folks.  Lot of bright guys.  Lot of guys who knew they were lucky and wisely shut up.  Ledderer and Ferguson are playing it smart and silent. Furst, OTOH, insisted on shooting a S&W Model 500 size hole in his foot.  Sadly, it is a mistake that will see him to his grave.

You can expand on this or throw in some 12-letter words about the socioeconomic and psychological shortcomings. We can do that great American thing as made popular by the perp walk — sneering at the mighty-fallen.  Or we could sign onto Napster and watch any of the dozens of old movies that have worked and reworked the premise.

It is simple:  Stupid Success Engenders Stupidity.    The last cliché here is the dozy:  There but for the grace of God go I.

Nobody avoids coolers.  These guys thought they could.

No related posts.

Herbert Philbrick was one of the products of that era.  He was “The Counterspy” and wrote a book and had a popular 50′s TV series about his exploits.   The book and series was:  I led three lives — Citizen — Communist — Counterspy.

We all know about the tea party — lauded on one side; castigated on the other.  Good ideas and poor one get mixed into a gumbo that makes the various talking points often talk around instead of at the issues.  Interesting times.

Another indicator of interesting times is protests going on in many cities across the country.  It is the liberal approach to tea party issues.  They are camped by Wall Street and getting pepper sprayed and arrested in the same style I was instructed in with my National Guard riot training in the 60′s.  We are good at ignoring a problem to the point were overreaction occurs.   It part of the process  Fear, hate, disgust or whatever start to rule the day.

Looks sort of silly at one level.  No more silly than the YIPPIES (Youth International Party)  I visited in Lincoln Park during the Chicago Democratic Convention.  That got even nastier than the 700 arrests at the Brooklyn Bridge.  Pepper spray isn’t as photogenic as the tear gas was then but the intentions are the same.

This group is the left’s version of the tea party.  They blame “the fat cats” and target Wall Street and the Fed.  It is the same kind of target that worked for Joe McCarthy.   You take a class with negative connotations and heap all the evil on them.  Scapegoating is always around and useful.

Fat cats refers to higher income folks.  It a great class to attack and we’ve seen it in Presidential news conference and sound bites from various sources.  It a populist standby.   There are plenty in the ‘fat cat’ group that deserve approbation.  It is also the guy who grew a business with hard work and has a nice business that employes quite a few people.  We say to the enforcement people, “Don’t stereotype!” and then we do it and act holier than thou in the process.

It never hurts to stop and think.  It isn’t as satisfying as letting reaction give us an adrenalin high. That gave us the 50′s commie scare; the 60′s race riots; the 70′s energy crisis; a forerunner housing bubble in the 80; the dot com 90′s, homeland security and friends for the ought and now this.

[Here a snippet about Wall Street Fat Cats:  Their political donation lean toward liberal and Democrat.  Embarrassment?  Surprised?]

I wish I could now provide you with a simple and easy solution.  But, that what all those past problems did and in the process left a lot on the table.   We still see components of all those problems carrying forward.  It is that cumulative effect situation on steroids.

All these splinter groups recognize a problem or collection of them.  The solutions are all over the park.  The solutions look for an easy resolution.  That again postpones the inevitable.   I don’t think that will work this time.  If we can avoid doing something really stupid, the country will come out of it.   We’ve always been able to make the necessary sacrifice when push finally came to shove.  There is no reason we won’t again.

We need to consider beyond ourselves.  We need to find a common ground.  We really need to recognize there are sacrifices to be made.  I think you guys can do it.  Hopefully, I can stick around long enough to see things moving that way.

I’ll return to a rallying cry out of my era:

Keep the faith!!

Here is a thought provoking site I just visited that you might enjoy.

ADDENDUM:

Well, I have been thinking back again.  It reminded me of what great parents I had.  I was a kid and didn’t have a long frame of reference.  Boy, I could come up with or support some stupid ideas.  I don’t remember them ever telling me I was wrong.  I didn’t realize at the time like I do now that they led me by example.  Boy, I really was and still can be stupid.  My flaws remain my own.  The rest was a gift from them.  I hope someday I get a chance to really thank them properly.  We’ll see.  I guess that is I’ll see.

Related posts:

1. My Fellow Americans
2. Hail fellow well met

I think we’ve all identified friends in the sites.  It has been some ongoing fun to promote one or the other as somehow part of who we are.  That’s probably why we’ve been so irate at the failed sites.   It almost like a drinking buddy from down the street gets perp-walked past our front door.

Jesse May is one of those people who has gone through a bit of that and ended up looking in that mirror we try to ignore at times.  He has a post up where he’s also hard on himself.  He not any more culpable than many who took Caesar’s salt — that early Caesar or it might be the host of recent ones.    But, it is damn refreshing when contrasted to the crap from Furst that I mentioned the other day.

Gambling is all about getting your hand in the other guys pocket.  Most of us did/do it for a bit of fun with disposable income.   Others though take it to the business level.  The business level is a nasty place.    While we are good at separating business friends and the like from our real friends, we haven’t really faced up to this with the gambling ones.

Those who are expressing their shock/disappointment/anger with what has gone on really need to ask themselves why they are where they are.   Jessie May did and found an answer that more honest about it than most are coming up with.

My poker friends are bloggers.   Just people.  They aren’t the guys I saw on TV.  Mike and Daniel might be great guys but they need to put themselves ahead and stick with that limited set of their real friends too.  That means not making waves.   We’re all good at that to varying degree.

I not any sadder or wiser as this all plays out.  What really matters are the things we already knew.  We’ve made exceptions for this gambling scene and may need to remind ourselves of that from time to time.  It isn’t who we are; its been just a bit of fun that a collection of scumbags can’t take away.

No related posts.

Auditors have a collection of standard practices that they increase when suspicions manifest.   But, even the least invasive audits should establish that standard practices and reporting are happening.  The online poker sites that are listed on the London exchange are subject to such audits.  That obviously wasn’t the case for UB and FT or the others that remain facing the U.S.

Reliance then falls the licensing entities that provide them with a license along with the jurisdiction where they have established their presence.

We all have figure out that the Canadian Indians never bothered with anything beyond lip service.  When cheating was found their reaction was more PR than judicial. The only thing to their credit was they didn’t overly (or really) regulate much to start with.  That was figured out long before the UIGEA hit.

The Alderney Gaming Control Commission just concluded their hand wringing washing away of the Full Tilt License.  The flaws the hearing establish in FT’s operation were one that wouldn’t pass scrutiny from an accounting 101 class.  The fine folks on Alderney must have crossed to the other side of the street every time they saw FT folks approaching.

Everybody is on FT’s case.  Can’t argue against that.  But, the AGCC may be even more culpable. Like Kahnawake, they were good at talking the talk but never walked the walk.  Both commissions seem to only get as far as “How’s it going, buddy?”   The malfeasance practiced by the entities they license were and are obvious.  That hearing that lifted the FT license was an even bigger indictment of AGCC practices.

The two gaming commissions were facilitators. Had they preformed at 10% efficiency and integrity, everybody would be ahead.  Yes! even the site owners. That isn’t just as bad as what the sites got away with; that is worse.

Wink! Wink!  Nudge! Nudge!  Say no more!

No related posts.

Now some of my ancestors showed up in the late 19th century.  They came from Germany. It was the era of the robber Barons.  They were eating emigrants in their factories and not even spitting out the pits. WTF, my ancestors were retrards!  Maybe there is something to heredity.

They should have waited.  That wouldn’t have done me any good; but, why come to a country that Democrats hadn’t perfected.

The British approach sounds more civilized.  “Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”  It says competition is good.   And, my relatives weren’t retarded.  They were looking for a playing field.  Just a few of those huddled masses yearning to breath free.”  Let’s leave out the wretched refuse part and save my pride a bit.

We didn’t all become barons of industry or, to put it on other terms, Robber Barons.   Not that we’d of minded.  But, Land of Opportunity was there.  And, it truly was.  It wasn’t set up fair.  There is and was a grading system.  Not a pud course in the lot, either.  Generations that didn’t succeed establish a new generation with greater opportunity to succeed.

This wasn’t a school that thought true grades would stunt emotional growth.  It wasn’t always fair but success has been there for those who seek it.

I’d love a world with augmented advantage for all.  We never managed pulling it off in the past and attempts to correct that haven’t succeeded.   We’ve always been a place with success — never easy but always available.  Laws to make it easy or to avoid hurt feelings collide with that past.  Human try and fail and that has been politicized and codified.

My parents went through a Great Depression.  It wasn’t easy but they made it better in the ways available.  I’m not sure they could pull that off in modern times with modern rules.

So, we need to consider what can make us better and let that play out with the least possible intervention.  The knowledge is there and the will came on a thousand emigrant boats.  We can do this!

Related posts:

1. Playing Bachelor Lutheran Farmer

Laws are supposed to protect equally.  But, equal is seen each time from an individual perspective.  And, laws today are promulgated by far more entities than the just our elected officials.  My example for today is about inequity coupled to ongoing stupidity affecting the individual’s quest, desires, whatever.

Personally it came to the fore as part of my purchase of that Logitech Revue that couples me to viewing shows. on the Internet.  That is disruptive to the traditional model and so various entities make rulings on how that affect the populace.

Fox has met the problem by delaying broadcast two weeks.  This just started.  It follows the failure guidance exhibited in Prohibition.  And, it demonstrates turning their good customer away from them even further.  A popular show there is Master Chef and its download via the file sharing vehicle of torrent downloading roughly tripled.

The Fox solution echoed the solutions of the MPAA with just the outcome the Volstead Act went on to predict.  Sadly, Fox isn’t alone in providing artificial solutions.  Using my Logitech revue demonstrates equal and greater stupidity.

ABC is happy to let me watch their programs with a bit of ad revenue thrown their way when I do it on my PC.  Those same shows are denied me on the same TV screen when I use the Revue.   Evidently, that is a disruptive technology to their view.

Hulu airs many shows  which they pay some network for.  There free viewing portion airs advertisements which rewards them.  Many shows, evidently can’t have their acquisition costs covered and so are limited to their payed viewing option.  The free site is their acquisition model.  You guessed it those using a smart TV to access it are locked out.

Over on Turner is a show that caught my eye.  It is called Rizzoli and Isles.  I came across a blurb about it and thought I might enjoy it.  Turner lets you view two, recent eepisodes from the catelog.  But, that’s like opening a book and starting at the middle.  My account on Netflix makes many catalogs available but that one would require an added payment.  There are choices available and the likely ones don’t do anything for Turner.  The most likely outcome lowers my respect for their products and for the law.

The other day I wrote about Stanton Optical in glowing terms.  They respected customers and also figured out how to function and profit in a disruptive market segment.  Optical houses have lost the original business models twice — local opticians offices and then strip mall operators that maintained high gross margins.  The Internet again was one of the disruptive sources to the latter model with much lower profit operations becoming available.  Stanton figured out how to work around the disruption and thrive.  Stanton’s model stays remarkably close to their competition but gives the customer greater options resulting in a broader customer base.  That’s having one’s cake and eating it too.

Why can’t the entertainment industry find a model that doesn’t seek success by oppression?  Why do they do everything possible to turn the law abiding toward another path?

No related posts.