“That’s the Patriots,” Ditka said. “They get away with it.”

Now, lets have a little history lesson. Ditka is the Bears coach who let his players do the “Superbowl Shuffle” video. The poster-child for studio-produced smack-talk. As insulting and self-indulgent an exercise as the NFL ever saw.

He is also the same coach who, when safely ahead in the Superbowl against the Patriots, still decided to have William “The Refrigerator” Perry barrel in for a touch down to rub it in.

And this cretin has the nerve to lecture anyone on “class”?

ESPN is supposed to be a sports network, for fans of all sports, and they are letting themselves become partisan thanks to the likes of Ditka. ESPN is fast becoming a disgrace to sports reporting. Sure, you want your “personalities” to spark discussion and be controversial. But when…

The legislation is available online here, so I figured it was worth taking a look. There is so much rhetoric these days and the media is such a shill for the major political parties that I don’t believe anything until I see it for myself. So, I hop over to the page and search down for “SEC. 1076. USE OF THE ARMED FORCES IN MAJOR PUBLIC EMERGENCIES”.

Now, I’m no legal expert, but some of the subtle changes in language are kind of startling:

SEC. 1076. USE OF THE ARMED FORCES IN MAJOR PUBLIC EMER-
GENCIES.
(a) USE OF THE ARMED FORCES AUTHORIZED.–
(1) IN GENERAL.–Section 333 of title 10,

…

To begin with, jobs in computers and IT just aren’t as easy to get as ten years ago. Between the recession and the rampant out-sourcing of jobs to Eastern Europe and the Pacific Rim, the opportunities are severely limited. And companies would prefer to hire someone from a 4-year college, or with some experience.

But the ads on TV make it sound like after a 2- or 3-year program you can become a Director of IT overnight. Or be buying houses and cars. Sorry. Ain’t gonna happen. The tech-sector doesn’t pay like it used to – again, thanks to the recession…

Other articles claim this is an issue of “respecting women.” Meaning they want more women to buy video games. Hey, how about rather than make the booth babes cover up, they have a few booth dudes for the women to gush over and have pictures taken with? Wouldn’t that be just as fair? Sure … but then the moralistic swine who want to tell everyone else what they can and cannot see wouldn’t get their say.

Video game “booth babes” forced to cover up

By Daisuke Wakabayashi
Thu May 11, 9:45 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Missing: scantily-clad females hawking the latest in electronic toys for the boys.

The video game industry’s annual trade show in Los Angeles opened its doors to its exhibitors on Wednesday with organizers ordering women staffing the booths to cover up

…

Apparently during periods of inactivity you feel like moving your legs. That’s a disease? That requires a “Restless Leg Foundation?” Are you shitting me? There’s a foundation for this? Like, people are getting paid to man the phone support lines in case your foot falls asleep?

Oh … look who sponsors these fine organizations to help the sufferers from this life-shattering ailment. Why it’s the big pharmaceutical companies. Our friends.

Hey, look. If your foot falls asleep, how about this: take a walk. Don’t sit on your ass all night watching American Idol. Walk around the block, ride a bike, do something. Hell, go down to the nearest Mall and window shop … at least you’d be moving around. Taking pills for this is idiotic.

And if that still doesn’t do it, here’s something that the medical profesion will never in a million years recommend: see a chiropractor. I can speak from personal experience that almost every medical “problem” I had from weak digestion to chronic head-colds have disappeared since I started seeing a chiropractor.

Partly because when your spine works then your…

But lets ask some more fundamental questions:

If I can book a round-the-world trip in under five minutes on the Internet, why does it take all weekend (or a professional CPA) to do my taxes? Seriously. Why does it have to be so complicated? Who benefits from this freaking nightmare of paperwork that every adult in the country is in some way saddled with? Lawyers, CPA’s, the IRS, and basically the government – that’s who. The more complex this stays the more of our money they can take. Sure, sure, sure … “only the rich get to take advantage of all those loopholes.” But what are they paying a CPA and tax attorney to get those breaks? And with all the information that is on file about us – especially since the Patriot Act kicked in – what could we possibly tell Them on a few sheets of paper that they can’t find out quicker by making a call to the CIA or NSA?

Why are they taking payroll deductions…

During the Oscars (go Jon Stewart!) they made a lot of noise about getting people back into the movie theatres to see movies. Why? Because they make more money if we do than if we rent a DVD. Duh.

So lets start there. Movie Industry: Do you really think we’re so dumb that we don’t know why you’re saying this? Home Entertainment Systems are as good as anything you can throw into a building. I know, my neighbors have a great one and I can get my martini shaken (not stirred) by setting it on the table when they have that bad boy blasting. Maybe they aren’t as big, but the quality of the image is damn near perfect and you can sit where ever you want to get the full effect.

Next, watching at home means you can pause the movie or rewind over dialog where people are mumbling or whatever. You’re more likely to be able to watch in peace at home too without idiots talking or making noise. And you don’t have to drive to…

The annual rite known as “Valentine’s Day” should be a happy one. Married couples should be able to step out of their dual-income, mortgage-paying blight and do something romantic and/or kinky on that day. People in relationships should be able to spend the day doing something to celebrate and strengthen their union … or at least try something new together. And for the mass of the populace who are alone, it should be an occasion to roll the dice once more and try to find “someone.”

But, thanks to the gaping maw of the beast called “marketing” Valentine’s Day is none of those things. It is a guilt-ridden, ego-shattering continuation of the depressing shit-tide that comes during the Christmas buying blitz. You just barely start paying off your VISA and MasterCard from Christmas and there, once again on the TV and newspapers, you’re being told to buy jewelry, cars, clothes, vacations, … and erectile disfunction pills … for the One You Love on that Special Day.

Now, of course, this starts to sound like I’m too cheap to buy stuff for the women in my life. Which is as far from…

There was a time, not too long ago, when America was fearless. No more. Oh, we watch NASCAR and the NFL and think we kick major ass. But what’s on the screen between the games and the races?

Ads about worrying about your credit score.

Ads about refinancing to get out of credit card debt.

Ads for insurance for burial expenses.

Ads for medications which may prevent illnesses you don’t have.

Ads for life insurance for children.

Ads warning you that common everday life (like driving to work) may lead to life-threatening diseases.

Cholesterol. Erectile Disfunction. More insurance. Identity theft. And on and on and on it goes.

It’s a sad state of affairs when the most uplifing commercials on TV are for cars. Cars sell on style and performance and quality. OK, so half of it is lies, but you don’t’ buy a car out of fear. You buy it to go places and do things. That’s what this country used to be about.

But … Fear Works. We as a country have become so obsessed with our health and hanging on to whatever money the IRS doesn’t take and the greedheads are allowed to…