Some Old Dude

@rcnevada on Twitter.

Atkins was wrong. – Your mother was right.
Now shut up and eat your vegetables.

Meet the Seabreacher X

by Seabreacher

Taken from Rag Hand:

This came from a blog post by David Gewirtz for ZDNet Government:

“According to InformationWeek, the U.S. agency known as USAID (United States Agency for International Development) is partnering with outsourcing service companies in countries like Sri Lanka to teach more than 3,000 workers technology skills in tools like Enterprise Java.

To make it easier for those workers to work with American companies who have outsourced work, American taxpayers are also paying to train the workers in English.”

This is from the InformationWeek article:

“Courses in Business Process Outsourcing, Enterprise Java, and English Language Skills will be offered at no charge to over 3,000 under- and unemployed students who will then participate in on-the-job training schemes with private firms,” the embassy said. [...]

While Obama acknowledged that occupations such as garment making don’t add much value to the U.S. economy, he argued relentlessly during his presidential run that lawmakers needed to do more to keep hi-tech jobs in IT, biological sciences, and green energy in the country.

He also accused the Bush administration of creating tax loopholes that made it easier for U.S. companies to place work offshore in low-cost countries.

Apparently USAID is beginning a similar program in Armenia.

This whole “let’s ship US jobs overseas and keep our friends in the extremely profitable IT outsourcing business fat and happy” project is run by Rajiv Shah, who was hand picked by President Obama.

Obama is the guy who swore that if he was elected he would keep tech jobs here at home, and who is just another politician who plays to the masses when he wants to get elected but pays to the rich and powerful now that he’s in office.

Why is it that our government will help fund a free education for someone overseas, but in the country where people pay the taxes that fund this project, students are expected to take on massive amounts of debt to pay for that same education?

According to Advertising Age the Wall Street Journal is now publishing coupons in it’s weekend edition.

The Journal said coupons will just make the paper more compelling for everyone. “Who doesn’t like some value, regardless of their income?” asked Michael Rooney, chief revenue officer at the Journal. “Everybody likes a good deal.”

“Business is our core but we no longer are the second read in any marketplace,” Mr. Rooney added. “As part of our effort to grow the business and serve our readers with a complete newspaper, this is added value.”

No, you did not misread that. The WSJ, that bastion of right wing stodgyness has stooped to the level the pedestrian press, and expects it’s readership to clip coupons.

This shows how desperate times are. It wasn’t too long ago the average reader of the WSJ was more likely to shop for stock in the grocery chain, than the stock on the grocery store shelves.

Coupons? In the Wall Street Journal? Isn’t this one of the signs of the Apocalypse?

Coca-Cola is being sued for misleading health claims about their “VitaminWater.”

First the reasonable part:
Coca-Cola is being sued by a non-profit public interest group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, on the grounds that the company’s vitaminwater products make unwarranted health claims.

WASHINGTON—A federal judge has denied Coca-Cola’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit over what the Center for Science in the Public Interest says are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on the company’s “vitaminwater” line of soft drinks. The company claims that vitaminwater variously reduces the risk of chronic disease, reduces the risk of eye disease, promotes healthy joints, and supports optimal immune function, and uses health buzz words such as “defense,” “rescue,” “energy,” and “endurance” on labels.

Now the WTF? part:
Coca-Cola’s defense is that “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.”

The judge also rejected Coke’s argument that disclosing sugar content on Nutrition Facts labels eliminates the possibility that consumers may be misled into thinking the product has only water and vitamins, and little or no sugar. Gleeson cited a similar case involving deceptive fruit imagery on packages for Gerber’s Fruit Juice Snacks, which are mostly corn syrup and sugar. That court held that “reasonable consumers should [not] be expected to look beyond misleading representations on the front of the box to discover the truth from the ingredient list in small print on the side of the box.” Vitaminwater has 33 grams of sugar in each 20-ounce bottle.

Sounds healthy enough to me. — Providing you’re a hummingbird and can live on sugar water.

Watch only after you’ve taken your blood pressure:

ShaddapPlease — June 16, 2010 — Area is now dangerous for American citizens due to shortage of border patrol. Arizona is asking for at least 3,000 national guard to help them secure their border along with Mexico. Obama only offer 1,200 which is not enough. Obama remain passive over this issue which is a threat to our national security – this is invasion.

Meanwhile back at the hacienda, Obama and company are suing over Arizona’s immigration law. I never thought I’d miss Bush.

Based on a post on Outside the Beltway: — “Bureaucracy Standing In The Way Of Oil Spill Clean Up Efforts”

The governor of Louisiana sent out barges to suck up the oil and dump it into steel tanks then the bureaucratic buffoons from the Coast Guard made them stop.

According to the Coast Guard they needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life jackets on board. –So? They couldn’t just board each of the vessels check that they were in compliance and let them go back to work? Oh yes. The CG also said that they were having trouble contacting the manufacturer of the barges.

The Coast Guard seems to be in competition with FEMA for the biggest cluster fuck in history. First they help BP prevent reporters from accessing things BP didn’t want the world to see, now they are preventing any unauthorized cleanup.

This is exactly like the fire marshal making you stop spraying water on a smoldering roof because your hose hasn’t been inspected.

Once again the pencil pushers have proven that paperwork is more important than life, property, or even the planet.

The United States Coast Guard: Now less popular than the IRS.

Delta Airlines sent two children fling under the airline’s unaccompanied minors program two the wrong cities.

A boy destined for Boston wound up in Cleveland and a girl bound for Cleveland wound up in Boston. The airline said it was because of a paperwork mix up.

news.com.au: Delta said the children were connecting through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, US on Tuesday when they were put on the wrong connecting flights because of a “paperwork swap.”

Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec on Wednesday said a boy ended up in Cleveland instead of Boston while a girl was sent to Boston instead of Cleveland. He would not release information about the children, citing passenger privacy. [....]

Delta said it has apologized to the families, sent the children to their final destinations at no cost, arranged full refunds for the children’s tickets and provided credits to the families for future travel.

“A paperwork swap?” Does this mean the airlines put illiterates who couldn’t read the paperwork well enough to tell if it was for a boy or a girl in charge of these children, or was it the same baggage handler who sends my luggage to O’Hare when I’m headed to Dallas Fort Worth?

It also makes you wonder if they have a warehouse for unclaimed children?

BP has admitted that top kill is a failure and they are now going to try a custom-built cap known as the “lower marine riser package.”

If you want an idea how much surface area the spill covers use this map and type the name of your city in the search box.
The oil spill will be overlaid on the map and you can see how large it really is.