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Another bad idea

This comes under the heading of "I make the rules that you should follow because I know better". One of the reasons why this country is inundated with too many laws (and if you don't believe me just look up the tax code sometime) is that people believe that things they don't like should be regulated.

In this case it appears to be the National Associate of Theater Owners making the rules rather than the government, but same idea. How many times have you actually been at a movie and heard a cell phone go off, be honest? And if one ever did exactly how much did it bug you? I can only remember it occuring once and the guy caught it within a couple rings. It did not cause be to miss anything in the movie, and no one had a mental meltdown because of it.

Of course the real tip off that this is a bad idea is this quote "Already a reality in France ...". Get the message?

Blame game

I don't care for politics (the game) in any form, Washington or Corporate. The blame game is one of the game tactics that seems to be over used today.

1. It's all THEIR fault, not mine - The latest example I saw this morning on CNN. FEMA had declared it was out of money (this was stated over and over again) and a congreeman from Louisiana was on ranting that FEMA had plenty of money in other budgets and said something like "they should take the money ($30 billion available) from this other account and then go to congress to approve it afterwards". Now congress is the first one to bitch if FEMA or any other agency spends money not authorized and start up congressional hearings on who violated policy if the did exactly this. So, should FEMA only follow the rules when no one is bitching at them?

Commercial Restrooms

If there is one place companies really know how to pinch pennies it is in their restrooms, and boy does it hurt!

1. Toilet paper - They seem to battle on who can use the thinnest paper possible. Course it just means people use more to have the correct layers between them and what they are wiping. What really gets annoying is when they use thin paper on humongous rolls. When you get a new roll like this the pull neccessary to get the roll to turn is almost the same as the pull to tear off the paper. You end up having to coax it out (they always put these big rolls in covered containers so you can only reach under and get a hold of a small piece) slowly or get it in tiny little pieces. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrh!
2. Water flow - Some toilets have so little water flow that even the urinals have to be flushed multiple times to get the waste gone. And of course many of the people using the restroom (at least in the men's) don't worry about it. Consequently these restrooms don't smell bad, which may be another part of the plan, you try to get out as soon as you can!
3. Spring faucet handles - You have to press the handle to get about 2-3 seconds of water!
4. Motion sensor faucet handles - Course these you have no choice in temperature and how many of you have leaned into the mirror to check your tie or your eye and got your tie soaked in water because it swung in front of the sensor.
5. Motion sensor soap - All right, this is going just to frigging far! Now you have to be careful with getting your hand to close to eat as you rub them under the water. A little soap on that shirt cuff?
6. Towel dispensers - They come in all shaps and styles and they are mostly terrible. The spring loaded which insures that you get just one towel at a time. And of course what you get certainly isn't enough to dry both hands. Now they even have motion sensor towel dispensers. You have to wait for the sensor to reset before you can get the second or third you need to get dry!
7. High pressure sinks - Ok, admit it! At least once you have been splashed by water (right where people will assume it is another liquid) from this faucets that seem to lie in wait for the worst time, first date, important interview, etc..

NGOs

Have you noticed that NGOs are acting more and more like they are actual governmental bodies at least so far as believing that they have power and representational rights?

1. At various world conferences on the environment and trade the NGOs are getting seats at the table and input into the agreements and white papers coming out of the conference.
2. This story shows that the NGOs would like to share revenue just like the states in the US expect a share of the federal revenue.
   

Media

I was reminded today that one of the subjects that get me on my soap box is the way the media treats the "news".

1. Playing word games with editorials - Some, many, pundits seem to believe that their editorials or opinion pieces are their personal playground. That they don't have to meet the same standards of journalism as we were taught in school. At least taught when I was a student. For instance this Fisking of Krugman or this one of Bob Herbert also of the Times.
   
2. Treating news articles as editorial - Many reporters feel that their news reports are really their very own opinion piece and play the same games with the way they report the "news" as pundits with their editorials. For instance this NY Times report on Geraldo in New Orleans or this one of Starbucks impoverishing students from the Washington Post.
3. Reporters who don't understand what they are reporting on and just print what they believe. Here is one trying to address the idea of Peak Oil and getting the economics miserably wrong.
   
4. "News" articles that "report" just that part of a story that makes their view look better - This article from Reuters that I found on Yahoo Science news purports to report that global warming can't be tied to Katrina and Rita. However most of the article is about how some "think" it is or that it "may be". There have been many blog postings like this one over the weekend that showed how the news reports on last weekends anti-war protests were at the least very poor reporting if not outright propaganda. Or this one that tells the truth about an anti-war activist that has been protesting with signs claiming to be a Republican when he isn't.

I was discussing this with a colleague today who majored in journalism and she thinks that this is more of a case of the news trying to give their customer want they want as it is good business. While I believe there is some of that, I believe more of it is based on those many journalism graduates since Watergate that are out to "change the world" and make it "better". Of course "better" is in the eye of the beholder.

Driving

So the number one source of rant-worthy events I usually encounter are driving so here are a few of them;

1. People that drive 10 miles an hour UNDER the speed limit what ever that limit is. If traffic is light you can usually get around this characters, however I only seem to encounter them when traffic is busy. Since traffic signals in the city are usually set to the expected speed (read speed limit) this can mean that you end up stopping at every red light along the way.

2. People in the left lane (going straight) who begin to slow down for a red-light long before they get close to the light. I understand why, but if you want to get in the left turn lane this can prevent you from getting there for long seconds which can cause you to miss the turn signal.

3. People who are entering merging traffic who feel it is their RIGHT to get in in front of you. The other day I was leaving a shopping center and a woman in came up on the right where I had the right of way. I was prepared to allow her to go in ahead of me. But then she RAISED HER HAND indicating that I should stop and let her in! Almost pissed me off enough to not let her in.

4. People who won't let you in where there is no given right of way. I usually prefer to wait until most people have left the parking lot after a concert or sports event just so I don't have to put up with this. I went to a school in Texas with almost 3000 students almost all of which had a car. People played chicken so much going out the two lane gate when school was out that they had to replace the fence about ten times a year. I think 90% of the fence runners were from the rodeo club, but I could be wrong.

5. People who slow down to gawk at a accident or even worse just at somebody pulled off the highway. When I lived in Salt Lake City in the '80s the locals were rather famous for this. A car left on the side of the highway could cause a traffic backup for several days running even though it was the same drivers slowing down to stare at it each day.

Why?

There are few things (course I discover a new one almost everyday) that really peeve me. I created this blog to capture those for myself and hopefully others. Maybe if enough perpertrators of those rant-worthy actions see this they might change their ways.