Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Article: "Fort Hood Report: No Mention of Islam, Hasan Not Named"

The link: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1954960,00.html?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%295

" The U.S. military's just-released report into the Fort Hood shootings spends 86 pages detailing various slipups by Army officers but not once mentions Major Nidal Hasan by name or even discusses whether the killings may have had anything to do with the suspect's view of his Muslim faith. And as Congress opens two days of hearings on Wednesday into the Pentagon probe of the Nov. 5 attack that left 13 dead, lawmakers want explanations for that omission. "

There's the first paragraph, complete and untouched. Major Hasan's name wasn't mentioned nor was the possibility that his murders were due to radical Islam. Why do you think that is?

" The Pentagon report's silence on Islamic extremism "shows you how deeply entrenched the values of political correctness have become," he [John Lehman] told TIME on Tuesday. "It's definitely getting worse, and is now so ingrained that people no longer smirk when it happens." "

You don't say. Does anybody remember what I wrote to the JCS (Joint Chiefs of Staff) about this?

" Your choice is this: either bow to the blinders of political correctness, or acknowledge that having radical Imams (of the 14 currently in the military, 10 are KNOWN to have been radicalized) in the military is akin to asking Nazis to handle decryption during WWII. Again, that figure is not my opinion it is a FACT.

" So ... what, if anything, do you plan to do?

" I await what will in all probability be an echoing silence. "

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Price Stays Same - Quantity (amount) Goes Down

Yes, this is one of those 'duh' moments.

Recently, I caught Deerfield Farms doing this: Their 16oz bag of Jumbo Sunflower Seeds became a 13oz bag, but the price remained the same - $1.99.

But here's something shocking: Wyler's Beef (Flavor) Bouillon Cubes

6.5oz (makes 50 cups (50 cubes))
UPC: 0 41258 75124 5

3.25oz (makes 25 cups (25 cubes))
UPC: 0 41258 75117 7

Granted, you can't buy the first one any longer, and the container we had was being used to store thumbtacks. But the price was still on it: $2.18. Of course, to be fair, the 'use by' date was 01-NOV-1999.

I purchased the 25 cubes container today and paid (at Wal-Mart) $2.33.

YIKES. Before somebody tells me that the first one wasn't made by Wyler's ... um ... you need to learn how to read a UPC code.

An excellent primer is here: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/upc.htm

The first six (6) digits of the UPC code belong to each unique manufacturer. For any size Q-Tips (made by Unilever), as an example, the first six digits will ALWAYS read '3 05215.' For any thing of the Walgreens brand, the first six (6) digits will ALWAYS read '3 11917.' And so it is with Wyler's; the first six (6) digits will ALWAYS read '0 41258.'

YIKES.