Texting While Driving PSA

Utah Texting While Driving PSA 1085-Echo: A Texting Tragedy: "The video tells the story of two Utah men who were killed by the actions of another texting driver."

I really hope that people get it. I cannot tell you how happy I am that it's illegal now in Michigan.

iPhone 4

Thanks for coming out, Apple. According to this article on CNN, they're basically saying that the issue is not a factor. Not sure what Apple's issue is with this and why they're denying that it's a problem. Remember when your parents told you that "everyone else is doing it" isn't a good enough reason for YOU to do something? Yeah, me too. They're going to lose a lot of customers with this stumble...

It's pretty but you'd better not touch!

While the new iPhone 4 was suppose to have a brilliant new antenna that doubled as the external frame, touching it in the wrong way will decrease the devices reception. According to this article at Tomshardware.com (and other various articles popping up everywhere), just holding the new iPhone can cause you to drop calls. Yeah yeah yeah, call me an Apple hater... but isn't this the simple type of problem that would be obvious during pre-release testing? It appears that the current solution is to purchase the $29 colored rubber band "case" from Apple but that seems ridiculous to me that Apple would even charge anyone for it at this point. Maybe they just wanted to rush the new phone to the market in a cash grab while everyone is still euphoric over the iPad... I'm not sure. Regardless, it sounds like they need a fix... quickly.

Wow ... let's just outlaw competition ... it sure seems like we're headed there!

Okay, so this isn't the in the USA, but it (link here) sure sounds like something someone would try to pull here, too.  A children's soccer league on Ottawa, Canada, has now created a new rule in the interest of fairness ... If a team wins by 5 or more goals they automatically lose.  Yup, if you win by "too much," that's considered unfair so you lose.

What is this world coming to?  I know as a parent we don't like to see our kids feel pain or have them get their butts kicked in a sport or anything else, but come on.  Why not have our kids learn about lopsided losses now when it's a recreational soccer game so they know how to cope with a big loss of failing a college exam or not giving a good presentation at work?

I actually like some of the quotes from the parents:

“Heaven forbid when these kids get into the real world. They won’t be prepared to deal with the competition out there.”


“If there’s one team that’s consistenly dominant and one team that’s not, well, that’s life.”

Great Thomas Sowell Column entitled 'The Real Public Service'

I read this column today for the first time (it was originally published in May of 1999), but it is just as appropriate today.

This is my favorite quote from the column:

"Those who have helped the poor the most have not been those who have gone around loudly expressing "compassion" for the poor, but those who found ways to make industry more productive and distribution more efficient, so that the poor of today can afford things that the affluent of yesterday could only dream about."


I only wish more people realized this is true ...

Shocker! Canadians are realizing they can't afford socialized medicine!

According to this article at Yahoo! News, Canadian provinces are taking measures to reduce costs in their government-paid healthcare service.

I, for one, am completely not shocked.

In Canada and much of the developed world many people have this wonderful idea that government can help solve many of the problems that face us today so we ask it to do things like pay for our medical care.  This sounds wonderful because everyone in a developed country should have medical care, right?  The problem is, most of us believe that the government is high inefficient and not really that good at doing many of the things it is supposed to do (2010 Census anyone?) so why on earth would we believe they can do something as complex as medical care for everyone very well?

So much for Canada having this model health care system that we need to emulate here in the USA!

Google Lawsuit

The NY Daily News is reporting that a Californian woman is suing Google because she was struck by a vehicle while following the walking directions provided by her Blackberry Google Maps application. Here's the article.

Regardless of whether Google provides a warning or not on the walking directions, this person is a moron. This is another kind of frivolous, BS lawsuit that should be thrown out but probably wont. Instead, the lawyers will waste more of our taxpayer dollars by keeping civil servants occupied with this bullshit.

I wonder if this idiot would have attempted to sue a map-making company if she would have looked on a paper map instead.

Worker Strikes (and Shortages) in China

As reported in this Automotive News article, Honda is experiencing a worker strike in China.  The workers are demanding a wage increase from about $215/month to about $300/month.  (Yes, those are per MONTH wages!)  Although even the potentially increased wage is significantly less than an equivalent wage in the United States, the percentage increase is quite astounding ... about 40%.

I've been reading for months about firms in China having problems hiring enough laborers to work in their manufacturing facilities.  As economics will tell you, the way to hire workers when they are in short supply is to increase wages.  These increases, if significant (and I'd say 40% is significant) will lead to inflation.  This of course means that the cost of manufacturing in China will increase, making their exports less competitive over time.

My opinion is that issues like this in addition to potential social issues (the Chinese government continues to suppress any thoughts of disagreement) and the eventual costs China will face cleaning up the environment they are destroying will eventually catch up with China.  I think this will mean a bust at some point for their economy, I just hope it doesn't serve to bring down the world economy with it!

"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

Sadly, Gary Coleman, the star of the Diff'rent Strokes television show that ran for 8 seasons in the late 70's and early 80's, passed away today at the age of 42.  According to CNN.com he died of a brain hemmorhage at a hospital in Provo, Utah.

I remember watching Diff'rent Strokes all the time and wondering (I was a young kid at the time) why he was such a little guy for his age.  He is also sadly another example of a child star who comes to hit bottom.  He apparently discovered his adoptive parents had spent most of his earnings he made while starring in Diff'rent Strokes...

So in honor of Gary's memory, let's try to use the phrase "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" a few times this weekend ...

Moron Falls Asleep on Plane, Wakes Up Alone, Panics, then Sues Airline

So I read this article at detnews.com yesterday and couldn't help but think how this country has turned so many people into whiny little bitches out for a handout.  Why can't we take personal responsibility for ourselves any more?

And seriously ... she is apparently sleeping comfortably and soundly, wakes up to find herself alone on a dark airplane and can't figure out what to do?  She walks back and forth for 15 minutes and then the cops arrive and ask for her ID.  Wow, the really sounds like something she should sue for.  The scary thing is, instead of this being thrown out of court, she'll probably either win or get some sort of settlement from the airline.

Oh, and Geoffry Feiger is a moron, too, for continuing to file garbage suits like this.