Some Saturday Humor

"Bad Lip Reading" has some really funny videos.  Below are the "front-runners" in some...well...bad lip reading.

Hilarious!  Enjoy.

A Simple Explanation

Ok, I stand corrected.  Here's a recent video which, I guess, totally makes me wrong in everything I've thought about the Occupy Wall Street crowd.

And here I thought these folks had no logic or economic foundation on which to make a coherent argument.

Just kidding.  Enjoy the circus.

The Retort

Ahhh, Hat tip to everybody...both HotAir and Lex have this, so let me just help spread the wealth.

Peter Schiff, one of the few who actually knows a little about making money and predicting economic failure, gives a retort to the Occupy Wall Street degenerates.

Do yourself a favor and watch the whole thing.  I know, 18 minutes is such a long time.  But at least at the end of the 18 minutes, you'll be better informed and understand the difference between:

a.  What will save us
b.  What will kill us.

Enjoy.

Ooops

A colleague in my marketing class passed this along. Some of the biggest marketing blunders committed. 

Good fun, via Digital Dreams. 

1. Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."

2. Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish where its translation was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

3. Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick."

4. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as they did in the U.S., with the beautiful Caucasian baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside, since most people can't read. Yikes!

5. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious naughty magazine.

6. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el papa), the shirts read "I saw the potato" (la papa).

7. Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in Chinese.

8. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke-la", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "ko-kou-ko-le", translating into "happiness in the mouth."

9. When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." Instead, the company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

10. Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."

Californication

On October 9th of this year, Govenor Jerry Brown signed into law AB499.  This law allows minors, as young as 12, to get preventative HPV vaccines without the consent of their parents.  Of course, this should be of no surprise in a state which allows for minors to have an abortion without the parents' consent or even notifying them of the procedure.

Yikes.

On the very same day that Govenor Brown signed this bill into law, he also ensured that another evil was eliminated.  On Sunday, he signed into law a measure that prevents teenagers from using an indoor tanning bed WITHOUT PARENTS' CONSENT.

So, let me get this straight.  It's ok to have an abortion without parents' consent, but the use of a tanning bed without consent is now illegal?

Can someone explain this absurdity to me?

Sacrifice

Sacrifice defined by Webster: "Surrender of something for the sake of something else; something given up or lost."

Defined by a parent:  Shortly after finding out that she was pregnant, Stacie Crimm found out she had cancer of the neck and head.  Chemotherapy could save her life...but could jeapordize the baby.  What to do?

Sacrifice.  Stacie decided the life of the child was more important than her own.  Stacie refused the chemotherapy.  She was able to hold little Dottie Mae for 3 hours before Stacie slipped into a coma.  Stacie died three days later.

When Stacie learned of the news of her cancer, she called her brother to relay the news.  When the subject came up about chemotherapy, she said, "If I have to make a decision, you know what it's going to be.  Don't even ask, I've lived my life."

Sacrifice defined.  Thank you, Stacie.

"Only a life lived for others is worth living."  - Albert Einstein

The Definition of Irony

Via Hot Air.

The "Occupy Wall Street" (aka, I'm a socialist and give me all your money!) crowd just discovered the definition of irony.

The same people who say this:



...are now upset that they are being robbed by fellow "protesters".  When they want redistribution of property and wealth, they weren't referring to themselves, of course.  To the "rich"...whatever that means.

Me?  I'm just sad that this stupidity still exists in the 21st century.  After all the struggle, pain, and failure of socialism and communism, people are still ready to embrace it.  Logic does not matter to these people.

I still ask the same question to people who believe in socialism: "Who produces things that make our lives better when there is no incentive to produce?"

Still awaiting an answer that is filled with logic and facts rather than hyperbole.  

Numbers

You know, like words, numbers have meaning.

I'm a big fan of Marco Rubio.  I'm not a fan of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Case in point.



You see, the jobs act is so fundamentally important (according to the President), that there is no option but to support it.  If you don't support it?  Then according to his party, then you're against preventing murder, rape, paying firefighters, police, etc.  Hyperbole.  Pure and simple.

I think what the American people are tired of is speaking out of both sides of the mouth when real people are hurting.  People want real solutions, not real campaigning.  That goes for not just Democrats, but for Republicans too.

Me?  I'm still waiting for a leader.

A Lesson For Government

Here's a clip for the folks in Washington.

Untitled from Travis Prater on Vimeo.

A Really Bad Idea

I blogged (shortly)  in July on the ATF's "Fast and Furious" program that ended up getting one of our border agents killed.

Good to see this is being investigated.  Good to see the media doing its job.

Hopefully people will be held accountable.  Anything else would be...criminal.

You Should Put Down Your Flags...

...because I don't think you understand what it stands for.

Via Lex.  As the "protests" around the country gain in size, make sure you take a look at what they are arguing for.

I don't like what I'm seeing.

The Tax Man: Part II

I've heard comments around the blog that the U.S. enjoys a low tax burden compared with other countries.  This, of course, is a reason that is given to support the idea that we can be taxed more.

Found this chart at the Tax Foundation.  Very interesting.  You see, the people who say we're not taxed as much are looking at the overall taxation percentage.  But if you look closely, you'll see that all other taxes are about the same, except the Value Added Tax (or VAT).  That's a consumption tax.

So, in essence, we're taxed at the same level at most other countries...but taxed less on consumption.  Consumption taxes are tricky.  If you consume less, you pay less taxes.  If you consume more, you pay more taxes.  You can (theoretically) adjust your own tax rate with the VAT method.

Problem is, the VAT theory only holds if all other taxes remain the same.  You see, if we all decided to buy less, the federal government would take in less revenue.  Their response?  Raise your other taxes.  This is where the VAT theory falls apart.  I don't think most politicians who talk VAT are actually trying to give you more control of your pocket book...I think they just want more of it.

Interesting stuff to think about.

If this stuff bores you, that makes politicians happy.  The less you pay attention, the more they get of your wallet.

Keynes Was Wrong

Well, that headline is contested by about half the population.  But, that's my take.

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity has a good video supporting this idea.  Give it 5 minutes.  It will help you make better decisions at the ballot box.

Something in the Water

Is it just me or have you been scratching your head at recent headlines?

"Obama Wants Jobs Bill Back"