Spike Lee: Moron

Let me explain the difference between possible and probable. The word ‘possible’ means something could happen. It doesn’t suggest in any way how likely something is. For example, when you buy a lottery ticket, it’s possible you could win. The odds are something like three million to one, but yes, it is possible that you could win. The word ‘probable,’ on the other hand, indicates how likely something is to happen. For example, get back to that lottery ticket. You can buy one ticket, or you can buy one hundred tickets, but it isn’t probable that you’ll win. That’s simple, right? Then why is it that Spike “conspiracy theory” Lee is peddling the idea that the US government sabotaged the dikes in New Orleans because they [the government] secretly hate black people? Well, I can’t prove this, but I think it’s both possible and probable that Spike is a crazy-from-the-money, racist lunatic who enjoys the idea of insulting people he doesn’t even know. Luckily, so do I. Hey, if people actually look to directors, actors, musicians and other people with no qualifications whatsoever so get political insight, maybe someone will listen to me, too.

Too many stereotypes, not enough thinking

I read some crap the other day about how Bush screwed up by allowing the assault rifle ban to expire and I thought I’d comment on it.

The problem with people today is that they all want easy answers. I think it started with the scourge of mankind, the baby boomers, with their smug, condescending, shallow thinking and selfishness in regards to just about everything. Since the 1960’s, this country has become obsessed with information. Unfortunately, we don’t do anything with it, just throw it out there, randomly blaming everyone for everything, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. It sounds like I’m rambling but here’s where I’m going with it (back to the gun ban). The people for the gun ban have absolutely no idea what was banned, why, and most importantly, whether it did anything. To qualify, I’m not a republican and I’m not in the NRA, but I’m also not stupid. When the ban was lifted, all the big news stations covered it as if it were the end of the world, always showing video of gun store racks filled with “assault rifles” that were banned. The only problem is that none of the guns they showed were actually banned. AR-15’s, Mini-14’s, Bushmasters, and AK-47s were never banned. You just couldn’t buy them with magazines bigger than 10 rounds. Magazines for semi-auto pistols were also restricted to 10 rounds. How about full-automatic machine guns? Surely, they were banned. No. No, they weren’t. You could always buy a fully automatic machine gun, as long as you didn’t have a felony record and you bought a permit. There were a few guns banned, I’m not even sure exactly which models, but only thing the gun ban really did was drive up the price of various guns and magazines. It had no effect on crime and I’m not sure why anyone thought it would. Why all the complaints, then? Simple – people are stupid and they want easy answers. Anything that restricts guns in some way must be good, so go with it and if anyone complains, call them a right-wing, republican, peace-hating, bad guy. Remember, you don’t need facts if you have morality on your side.

It's not a bait and switch, it's a switch and bait!

Ever wonder why when products and services get cheaper, the price doesn’t go down? For example, 10 years ago, cell phones were expensive but now they aren’t, right? Wrong. Cell phone companies have plans that offer 500 minutes a month for 40 bucks so you’d think you could get a plan with 200 minutes for half the price, say 20 bucks. I have a land line that costs 30 dollars a month so why would I want a cell phone with hundreds of minutes I don’t need for double the cost? Because the cell phone companies want 40 dollars per customer, that’s why. The phone itself is cheaper, though, right? Wrong. They still cost a couple hundred bucks and they’re so poorly made, they break every six months. Now they have games, cameras, and MP3 players in them so stupid people will think they’re getting something for their money. Sure, cell companies will “give” you the phone free if you buy a ridiculous plan you don’t need and promise to pay for 2 years. That’s not a bargain, either but it’s all about cost per customer. Nextel’s the worst but, hey, they have to sponsor NASCAR so don’t expect any deals there. I also like the flexible minute plans that “change with your needs.” Hmmm, we’ll charge you based on the minutes you use. Bell telephone invented that idea 100 years ago and it works fine, except that the cell companies charge awful rates and still have minimum minutes required (hint: it always adds up to at least 40 dollars, dummy). Here’s another one that doesn’t make sense – buy a “value” plan and you can keep the minutes you don’t use for next month. I can’t even express in words how stupid that is. I buy 800 minutes a month, use 150, and I roll 650 minutes into the next month for a total of 1450 minutes. Next month I use 150 again and now I have 2100 minutes to use. Still, you never know when you may need to make a 35 hour phone call. Here’s a novel idea: how about selling me the 200 minutes a month I wanted in the first place?