Television’s Crap, So Let’s Pay the Writers More?

I have a problem with idiots, but I have a big problem with greedy idiots. Meet the Writer’s Guild of America. They are the union leading the American writer’s strike. I want to say upfront that I strongly support unions, and I support strikes if they are the absolute last step in negotiations. Over on the sister blog Get it Straight, I always cover and praise when a First Student yard joins a union.

Here’s the unfortunately under-covered part of the strike: the low-paid show staffers who are being laid off because the writer’s aren’t working. The news is semi-good in the late night comedy show area: All major shows are paying their show’s staffers through this strike, making sure they can put food on the table, in fact, NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly had to return to the airwaves in order to insure that their staff wouldn’t be fired.

Compare this with some of the writers (Note: SOME. I know not all writers are this well off), which have salaries nearing $100,000 a year, and are even getting residuals (or money for each time a show is aired) for reruns airing during the strike!

I know they are trying to get money from sales of shows online (e.g. in the iTunes Store) and DVDs; and I agree that they should get residuals from those sales. But should they have been so quick to strike, and put the people who make their writing come alive’s jobs at risk?

It’s that good ol’ D.C. smartness…

It’s November and I don’t usually get angry in November. November is a nice month. Never done me wrong. Who has done me wrong? The United Dumbasses of America*. Together we’ve got two stories come in over the past few weeks involving dumb idiots and gun laws. The first comes from Washington D.C. The second I’ll talk about later. Way later.

The ultimate United Dumbasses (my bad, the Supreme Court) have got themselves a case to shred the Constitution with. They are going to decide on a suit against Washington D.C., in which the city has a law preventing it’s citizens from having guns.

Maybe the law is there because the government is afraid of the non-voting citizens of D.C. revolting. Wait, this is America, so they never will. But, that law should be unconstitutional. Of course, so should the citizens not voting.

Either way, the arguments are that “the Supreme Court will confront whether the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right of gun ownership or merely a collective right to keep and bear arms while serving in a state militia.”

Well, let’s play Supreme Court Justice: What does the Constitution of the United States of America say?

A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Now, let’s play. “the right of the people” Notice something really cool: it doesn’t specify ‘those in the Armed Forces’, ‘the Soldiers of the United States’, or ‘Soulja Boy”. It says “people”. Got it? OK, so we can move on. Good.

“keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Let’s go over that for a minute. “Keep and bear arms” means “Owning and carring guns”.

OK, “shall not be infringed.”, meaning “don’t take away.” Clear? Sure? Really? Fine.

Boy, wasn’t that fun? If you understand what I just said, then why don’t you go and sneak a robe on, run into the Supreme Court building, and look all dignified. Run.

Mindless Babble Regard Life, Coffee, and the Holiday Season.

Actually, this discussion has absolutely nothing to do with the title. Isn’t life fun? I am going to address several issues tonight regarding me. I know everybody loves me, because it’s hard to resist. It must be the radiant glow, I really don’t know.

For example, I, as you may be unaware of, make things seem like they are something different from what they really are. (I have no idea what the hell that means, but if I didn’t tell you I don’t know what that means, you wouldn’t have known, would you? See.)

Let’s take this example from this photo of me, in my kitchen, October 7th, 2006:

OK. This photo appears to me a dapper, good-looking young man deep in thought. Actually, I bit my lip waiting for the popcorn to finish in the microwave. (DO NOT take out the part about good-looking. That part is correct.) Also, even though this photo was taken over a year ago, I do remember it being dark out when I took the photo, so why the window had light coming in I have no idea.

Here is another, more recent example:
Not so hard. An even better looking young man, sitting on a couch, staring uncomfortably at something far off in the distance.

In actuality, it’s an even-better looking young man, sitting on a couch, in need of a haircut, staring uncomfortably at the guy who just walked through the door with a 12-pack of Pepsi.

Shame.

One more:
Simple. A guy whose looks beat all of those before, sitting, enjoying a Coca-Cola Vanilla beverage, reading one of the finest pieces of depressing novels in world history.

OK, do you really think I’m reading? Give me a break.

When I get angry and bitter again, I promise I will come back and unleash my fury on my humble readers.
In other words, see ya tomorrow.

Oh How Things Change…

Even I like to be fair. If I’m not, some idiot sends me an email complaining, so it’s easier for me to just post corrections and updates. So I took the liberty of going back through several years of this blog and posted some corrections, or, more correctly, how my thinking changed. Think of it as a field trip, without the bagged lunches and First Student bus.

Let’s start in 2005, the first year of the Kevin’s Word (back when we were called kevin. word.):
March 23, 2005: Jack of all Trades.com

Thats what Google is becoming. An image sorter, an email service, and now a map service? Remember when it was just web searching? Me niether. There are rumers that they are working on a browser! What, Gbrowser::The searchable way to browse the web? I don’t know, but their becoming a monopoly. Most people will probably disagree. Tell me in the comments. Before Google buys out Blogger. (Wait, they already did!)

Dang, I was angry at a young age. Anyway, this was obviously back during the early days, and when I was covering technology and stuff. And I still agree with myself, although now there might be a phone involved.

April 30, 2005: Bad News…

[Gas prices] The’re still too high!

Suck it up, $1.60/gallon. Now it’s $3/gallon. Dang, what happened to early 2005?

November 4, 2005: Hey, hey, wait no, come back here!

That is not fair. Hey, Coca-Cola, I happen to like Vanilla Coke. You are mean. Anyway, I’m very upset about the discontinuation of Vanilla Coke, and I am stockpiling from the stores here in Baton Rouge. The’re replacing it with some “Blak Cherry Vanilla Coke”, Supposadly a mixture of Coke, vanilla and cherry soda, with coffee!

OK, this is a a case of bad reporting (and spelling. Firefox didn’t have built in spellchecker back then). Vanilla Coke was really discontinued, and you would have loved to see my closet from the Vanilla Coke I bought after that announcement. But just as a warning to Coca-Cola: Don’t introduce a product called BlaK and Black Cherry Vanilla at the same time! Clearly They both failed and Coca-Cola Vanilla is back on store shelves, but wasn’t that interesting?

Alright. That was a wonderful trip to the past. Now, a little forward, let’s go to 2006. Yes, because didn’t we all love 2006.
(By the way, where was I when I wrote all of 2006’s articles? I went through the list, and didn’t remember any of them…)

First point:

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Real First Post:
March 31, 2006: Raise your hand if you like Coca-Cola with coffee…

…hey, I think I see one in the back…
oh, wait, that’s the Coca-Cola product manager. Never mind.
Now maybe I’m speaking too soon, but that espresso I just finished was good. The Coke I had right before was great. Together… CALL 911! When CocaCola Blak reaches stores in Baton Rouge, I’ll try it. Saying that, I just hope I’m in good enough mental condition to right about it here.

I was very critical of Coke BlaK before it came out. If you remember also, I ended up liking it, before it was discontinued.

May 7, 2006: SUSE Ten Point One: Do I have to spell it out of you?
You don’t need to know the details, but I’ll just quote one sentence:

Oh, and ZENworks for updates.
Cool!

No, Kevin, not cool.

Note about the next one: They say, before you write an article, don’t be angry. I wasn’t angry, just bitter.
August 16, 2006: Enough is Enough, the Gloves are coming off, and it’s do or die, First Student!

This is First Student’s second year of contracting bus services here! After the trainwreck that was last year, you would think that First Student would get through their heads that signing the contract and then shooting the parish and school administrators, parents, drivers, and students in the foot would not sit well when their contract is up. Well, they didn’t. Over the past three days, every hope and every little percentage of optimism I had for this year was run over by a bus. Lack of communication, confusion, late or nonexistent service has become the new face of bus services.

On Monday, it started out better than last year. Buses came and got to school on time. But the afternoon was horrible. One kid was told that they would not stop at his house, even though they passed right in front of it, and instead was forced to get off at another street and WALK TO HIS HOUSE! What the heck is that?! This is not a game, as First Student seems to think.
Yesterday, the bus didn;t come at all, and instead another bus came around 15 inutes AFTER school started! The arrival at school was 30 MINUTES AFTER CLASS STARTED!! And even then, not many students were there. The majority came a few minutes later on other buses.Finally, our not last, but last I will talk about for today, turning around. How can First Student make students wait at the HIGHWAY! Sometimes, not even showing up, claiming they can’t turn around, even though that’s just another one of the FIrst Student Excuses. Ecspecially since there have been buses, both First Student and the previous public bus system buses (Oh, those were the days) have been turning down there for years. And the turnaround at the specific location has even been widened.
My recommendation to everyone who was affected by these non turnaround buses, if you have a turnaround, and buses have turned there successfully before, tell them that, and refuse to get off the bus.
I just hope, that when First Student’s contract is up, Corona and the rest of the school board looks at what First Student has done, and makes their descision on what is best for the students.

Actually, looking back, and at what’s going on now with First Student, I have nothing to correct.

Ah, 2006. Man it sucked. Oh, well, lets to to the current year, 2007. Dang, I’m still writing 2006 for the date…

January 1, 2007: Happy New Year

2006 sucked.
2007? If Vanilla Coke returns, it’ll be the year.Have a Yo New Year.

I am telling you, that was a coincidence.

February 8, 2007: The Krewe of Word

(no, that’s not a real parade) Alright, so Mardi Gras is just around the corner. Or, to be more technical, two down and two to the left. And because it’s been awhile since I’ve given advise in the form of a list (two years, actually), here’s some advise to keep you safe at the parades:

1. Don’t fight with me over beads. (For my Baton Rouge friends, of course.)
2. It’s not nice to call someone fat on Mardi Gras. Even if their name is Tuesday.
3. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t drink and blog. Don’t drink and set shows to record on the DVR.
4. If you’re in the parade, don’t throw your cell phone at someone, even if you don’t like them.
5. Get there early. Not too early, though. You might make someone think the iPhone’s being sold there.
6. Don’t tell DIRECTV. They might lock you in to a 2 year contract.
7. If you see a float that states “Mardi Gras is joining the new AT&T. Your world. Delivered,” you are at the wrong parade.
8. Indulge in what you’re giving up for Lent. If you’re not Catholic, indulge anyway and use that as an excuse.

In reality, I think AT&T, given the chance, would buy the entire holiday of Mardi Gras.

March 20, 2007: Blanco ain’t coming back!

YES! Not that I’m biased, or anything…
The governor of Louisiana announced at 6:00 pm Central that she won’t seek election in 2007. Not that it mattered anyway, who would vote for her, Michael Brown? Maybe if he was a Louisiana citizen. Unfortunately, this won’t help the Katrina/Rita recovery effort, at least not by a noticeable margin. Why? Because, the stupidity wasn’t just in the state government (although Pandora’s Box had to have been somewhere…), it was in FEMA, in the local governments, as high up as Washington, D.C. Of course those brainwashed Americans, ahem, Democrats (and Kanye West),would have liked for Americans to believe that the Source of All Evil(TM) was directly in President Bush’s administration, but, of course, they’ll leech on any bad story or tradegy and spin it to blame everyone else. No shame, Repubs to it to, but for some reason (Iraq?) Americans are believing it this time. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Vote Jindal. Not that I’m biased, or anything.

See, things change a lot. By the way, congratulations, Mr. Arrogant.

April 8, 2007: From the people that killed the DIRECTV/Dish Network merger of 2003…

…The Carmel Group, the research firm whose analysis helped kill the 2003 merger of [DISH Network's parent company] EchoStar and DirecTV, will release a new report today that outlines the strongest arguments yet against merging satellite radio companies Sirius and XM. Read the full thing here.Read the last line: With all due respect, this proposed merger [of XM and Sirius Radio] should not be approved – under any conditions – by the U.S. government.”

With all due respect, the US government needs to realize that this is a free and open market… and companies should be able to merge and buy each other out as much as they want and any legislation against that is stifling freedom.

And if you’re going to bring up the 1980’s AT&T breakup, may I remind you how well that went?

Of course, considering how much I hate AT&T, I guess I still stick to what I originally said about the Federal Government keeping their hands out. Remember: Companies do learn.

June 29, 2007: The iPhone…

OK, I know that if I say that the iPhone sucks here, then the Apple fanboys will go “Oh, but Kevin, you haven’t even played with the phone.” So, I have refrained from criticizing the phone until I had one in my hands and played with it for myself. I did just that at the Mall of Louisiana’s AT&T store today, so now that I’ve played with the phone for about 9 minutes, I would like to tell you what I like and hate about it.

I didn’t copy the whole thing, because who cares, but anyway. One reader commented to me through email that “u didnt really twxt it cause u treid a demp phone”. I”ll presume this guy was using the iPhone keyboard, so I’ll excuse his horrible spelling, but if you wish for me to have an unbiased review of the phone, send me one.

September 1, 2007: Go to jail, Go directly to jail, Do not pass Go, do not pull up your pants…

I realize that there is a reason I get up in the morning. Why? Well, aside from the fact my iHome clock blaring Evanescence off my iPod at seven o’clock hampers my sleep, it the knowledge that there will always be stupid laws made somewhere in the world. Today’s comes from our friends in Mansfield and Delcambre, Louisiana. (Somehow I knew the first stupid law of the month was going to be from here, I just figured it would be south Louisiana)
There shall be no sagging pants.
Yes, for those not familiar with the United States, we have nothing like education or drugs or a war to worry about, so we like to regulate pants. The International Herald-Tribune has this to say on the issue:

Behind the indecency laws may be the real issue — the hip-hop style itself, which critics say is worn as a badge of delinquency, with its distinctive walk conveying thuggish swagger and a disrespect for authority.

I really hate hip hop, but I like disrespect for authority. Escpecially when authority is taking advantage of power and money to help themselves.

Also at work is the larger issue of freedom of expression and the questions raised when fashion moves from being merely objectionable to illegal.

Sure, sagging pants could be construed as indecent exposure. But then, if that’s true, then wouldn’t current indecent exposure laws take care of this? I agree (remember that, I don’t say it often) that there should be a line from where it goes to making you look stupid to making you look stupid, and indecent exposure; but then current laws should fix that right up.
I should mention, and I really hate saying this, because I say it so much, but this is America (make yourself a note, lawmakers). What does that mean? You have a right to look stupid! Is this fad harming our children? Well, think about it this way, now they think real hard as to whether to choose boxers or briefs (Because that just isn’t right.)

I also want to make one other law: White guys can’t have sagging pants. Seriously.

September 24, 2007: John Georges: You ARE a politician, Get over it!

The governor’s race in Louisiana is heating up. It should cool down once Blanco figures out how to turn that crawfish boiler in her office off, but the election ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings (not that anyone will hear her, since she won’t get out of her recliner to go vote). One of the not-so-front runners is an ant, but also John Georges. Unfortunatly, I do believe his campaign ads might be misleading. In these ads, he says to “save Louisiana” we need to not elect another politican. Well then Georges, who do you suspect we should elect? A shrimp? Fred Thompson? The Mac guy in those commericals? Because you ARE a politican. How do I know? Well, since my Yo Dictionary is gone from the top of the page until Get It Straight gets it legs, this is the definition of politician

One primarily devoted to his own advancement in public
office, or to the success of a political party; — used in
a depreciatory sense; one addicted or attached to politics
as managed by parties (1913 Webster)

You are devoted to your own advancement in public office, right? That’s what I thought. You, my friend are a politician.

Finally, let’s look at it this way: If you stubbornly refuse to market yourself as a politician, are you sure businessman is the best way to go? I mean, people hate politicians, but boy do they hate businessmen too.

I just wanted to say: I’m surprised that picture of him in front of the Coca-Cola sign didn’t at least get him into a runoff.

So, as you can see, I have a lot of corrections. Now, don’t bring them up again.

Rolling Updates about that thing…

Jindal winning over 50%. Somebody owes me $20.

WAFB now predicting Bobby Jindal winning.

• Georges thanking his supporters, conceding to Jindal.

• Campbell now conceding, leaving only Boasso.

OK, Campbell, stop talking.

• Somebody tell Jindal his party isn’t a debate, he can show up. His brother looks just like him, he might have well as said he was him.
• Wait, Boasso is coming to conceed. I wonder if he has a cardboard cutout with him.
• Look who decided to show up. Hello Jindal. Got a watch or something?

He asked to give Blanco a round of applause… and crickets…
“See folks, I have a heart after all” Against the attack ads claiming “Bobby Jindal: Big brain. No heart.”
“Don’t let anyone talk bad about Louisiana” Louisiana sucks.
OK, Jindal, we get it. You’ll do stuff. You can talk tomorrow. I’m tired.
Jindal: I’m asking you to look straight: There IS nothing you can do about corruption.
What idiot is chanting in the background? This isn’t a rock concert, it’s a politician speaking!
That’s right, chase the American dream. All the way to Mississippi.
I can change the channel, I must change the channel, I will change the channel.
21 Minutes of talking. Well, it’s over.

You (Don’t Really) Decide 2007 Elections

It appears Jindal might avoid a runoff. Good. I don’t know if he can run. Either way, there are several interesting things going on tonight:

• Did you know NBC 33 could do live shots?

• Georges: Forget the Plan. Most people don’t read.

This isn’t really going to be interesting. It’s just more of the same crap from politicians. Now if my boxed edition of openSUSE would hurry up and show up. Yes, it’s that exciting.

This is our informed public…

Oh hell.

UPDATED: I Love AT&T. Now PLEASE don’t kick me off…

UPDATE: AT&T has changed their Terms of Service and now says it will not kick you off of their network for criticizing them. They did that just to screw with me I bet.

Everybody’s favorite almost-monopoly AT&T (formerly BellSouth, Cingular, AT&T Wireless, SBC, the old AT&T, PacBell, SNET, etc.) knows that people absolutely love them, but just to make sure, you must love them or you’re gone.

In an email to their customers, the new Old Pain has changed their Terms of Service and added a special line to the ways AT&T can kick your ass of their precious Internet Service:

5.1 Suspension/Termination. Your Service may be suspended or terminated if your payment is past due and such condition continues un-remedied for thirty (30) days. In addition, AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes (a) violates the Acceptable Use Policy; (b) constitutes a violation of any law, regulation or tariff (including, without limitation, copyright and intellectual property laws) or a violation of these TOS, or any applicable policies or guidelines, or (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries.

Yes. So that means making a joke about the globe’s look, or criticizing their policies, or mention that their once again becoming the world’s phone company on AT&T’s Internet service will earn you a cancellation.
So, here’s an open invitation to AT&T: Kick me off. I dare ya.

FirstGroup Won.

For original post on Get it Straight, click here.
Over on Get it Straight, I have to act professional. Here I can say this:
What the hell is in the water at the US Dept. of Justice?

Just in case ya’ll forgot, the purpose of the Anti-Trust division is to keep the market free and open for competition, not from it.

FirstGroup PLC, the UK’s largest provider of transit services, also owner of First Student, the nation’s largest provider of clowns who don’t know what the hell they’re doing, announced a merger with Laidlaw back in February. They are the largest school bus company in the US, and owners of Greyhound.

In order to protect competition in the school bus arena, First Student agreed to give up contracts to some school districts and sell them off to other companies (presumably others beside Laidlaw). So, what happened? They sold of one contract. One. In Anchorage, Alaska.

One.

So, what do they get in return? The investigation into their merger has been closed. Meaning: Break out the beer and chips, First: You won.

Yes. You’ve almost certainly got your merger. You’ve got the United States’ largest school bus contractor. You’ve got the US’s largest bus line. And you’ve got millions of children in your buses each morning (provided you show up) and in the afternoon (unless you’re late everyday for over six weeks). And who do you have driving? Well, if the amount of jobs you advertise is any indication, not many people. You know, some people actually train their drivers. “Dry runs” I’ve heard First Student claim they do. Except then you change the routes and the drivers once again have no clue where to go. Oh, and skipping stops, not going down streets, driving unsafe, wow.

You’ve got a lot to be proud of, First.

openSUSE 10.3 now available for pre-order…

On a serious note… openSUSE 10.3 from Novell is coming October 4th and is now accepting pre-orders in Germany and North America. Pre-order now and get free shipping!

It’s time again!