Who Is the Mayor of Cidra, Puerto Rico?

I get a feeling this is the kind of economic stimulus request that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said was "easily mocked."

The town of Cidra, Puerto Rico (pop. 42,753) is asking for $18.55 billion in economic stimulus aid.  Some of it includes $500 million for solar water heaters, that will produce an estimated 14 jobs, $150 million for a little league parking lot(!) and a cool $100 million for security cams in city parks.  The big one, though, is a $17.5 billion industrial zone of 100 acres.  At least the mayor aims high, right?

Stimulus Watch

If you are wondering where some of that "shovel ready" stimulus package may go, check out Stimulus Watch where they have the posted all of the requests from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  You can vote on them, join the scrum in the comment sections and generally see what passes for an economic necessity in our nation's mayors' eyes.  It's not pretty.

The Uncler

Funny or Die's spoof of The Wrestler featuring a down and out Uncle Sam.  Could have used Mickey Rourke, but Alyssa Milano is a fine addition.

The Uncler w/ Uncle Sam and Alyssa Milano from Alyssa Milano

Where bin Laden is Hiding - Parachinar, Pakistan

A couple of professors from the alma mater, UCLA's Thomas Gillespie and John Agnew, have concluded that Osama bin Laden is hiding in one of three walled compounds in Parachinar, Pakistan.

"We believe that our work involves the first scientific approach to establishing his current location. The methods are repeatable and can be updated with new information obtained from the U.S. intelligence community," the professors wrote in the MIT International Review.

Gillespie and Agnew used bin Laden's last reported whereabouts, the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, and employed "theories that predict how plants and animals distribute themselves over space and over time."

They deduced that Parachinar fits as a likely refuge. It is a place where the al Qaeda leader could have electricity, physical protection, personal privacy and a small number of body guards, while remaining protected from aerial view.

You Could Be in Japan and Other Downers

A bunch of bad news for a stormy Monday:

• As bad as the economic news here is, it's better than being in Japan.
• Steve Sebelius looks at the mysterious coincidence of a political supporter, Harry Reid and that $8 billion pork train.
• Perhaps the BBC could have reworded this headline a little differently.
• Even award-winning news photogs are feeling the pinch.
• And if you think the only problem facing the country is those toxic mortgages, check out the color of this map on Social Security recipients.
  

Despondex

Another funny piece from The Onion.  I actually know somebody who says "cool beans."  Love the UCLA "expert" part.

EFF's Legal Guide for Bloggers Updated

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has updated their "Legal Guide for Bloggers."  If you are one, you would be wise to give it a read and bookmark it.

Is the Stimulus Bill the Patriot Act All Over Again?

With the latest stimulus bill version topping 775 pages and the details seemingly changing on an hourly basis I wonder if anybody in DC actually knows what they are voting on?  Do they even have it to read?  Do we?

Doesn't it sound familiar.  A big bill being rushed through with dire warnings of an imminent collapse of the country, wrapped in patriotism and never actually being read by those who will vote on it.  Look how the Patriot Act turned out.  Will Americans have buyer's remorse, this time to the tune of a borrowed $800 billion, again?

Are Jehovah Witness Members Trolling Obituaries for New Recruits?

I received a handwritten sympathy letter in the mail today from someone in California who I do not know.  She didn't know me or my father either (she worded his name in the same official format used in the obituaries) but felt compelled to write anyway.  After a rote opening sentence or two, followed by a few scriptures, she got to the purpose of the letter by closing with "I am sending you a very informative tract to read."  A tract from the Jehovah Witnesses.

I guess if you can't go door-to-door and bother people you can now do it by mail.  Apparently Jehovah Witnesses are required to document their "witnessing" activity on a monthly basis.  So in this case, this woman's cruising of obits and then tracking down survivor mailing addresses helped fill some wacko quota or something.

I wonder if she honestly feels writing these letters truly provide comfort to some, or does she just view it as an assembly-line job fulfilling some arbitrary requirement for a religion that ranks barely above Scientology in public opinion?

Reno's 2009 Auto Show Doesn't Bode Well for Dealers or Detroit

If the attendance and browsing pattern of those at the 2009 Auto Show in Reno are an indicator of future sales it's going to be a brutal year, especially for domestic automakers.

While Saturday afternoon was the first time I had attended the show, so I can't really compare crowd numbers, from what I heard from others it was one of the lowest turnouts in recent memory.  But what should be especially troubling for Detroit is where the people who were there hung out.

Ford had the front slot and was fairly busy.  But they also had Cabela's with them, so the stuffed animals and free laser-shooting range probably helped boost the crowd.  That said, there were quite a few checking out the new F150s (which isn't that surprising).  My six-year-old was especially impressed with the rear seat and all the room.  Nobody, though, was looking at their cars.

But for domestics, that was about it.  The Jeep area was virtually empty.  Saturn too.  The Hummer had a small crowd of looky-loos but the main topic of discussion there seemed to be the absence of any MPG numbers on the sticker price.  Single digits too embarrassing?

Dodge seemed to be going all in with the retro look and their Charger and Challenger.  But my son spent most of his time looking at the 1970s version they had carted out.  Likewise, except for the Corvette, my son couldn't of cared less about the Chevrolets and, quite frankly, I agreed.

What was interesting was the luxury models.  In what could be seen as a sign of the times, nobody seemed to be looking at the BMW or Volvos.  I don't think I saw a single person in that section.  Porsche, though, had a crowd, but that was mainly people sitting in them for the thrill of it.  Lexus, however, had a constant stream of people.  And it was and older and more monied crowd at that.  One interesting piece about the Lexus autos was all the gear-shift knobs were missing.  I asked a salesman and he said they had removed all of them before the show.  Apparently last year they left them on and when the show ended four or five came up missing and, at $200 a pop, that was an expense they didn't want to incur again.

Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Nissan were relatively busy as well.  My son was especially taken by the Scion xD, declaring it the number one car in the show (even better than the $175K Porsche, go figure).  And for a small car it was surprisingly roomy, well-built, well-equipped and in the $17K range.  Nissan had the honor of the most inexpensive car, a base model of the Versa four-door sedan, coming in at $10K.  Granted, with no AC, AT or even a stereo, it is about as basic a car as you can get but it feels huge inside.  My son was standing up in it and there was still a ton of headroom and legroom, plus the trunk is truly cavernous.  If your budget is in the Kia range, the Versa is something to consider.

Subaru wasn't as busy as the other imports, though my son seemed fascinated by them.  One interesting tidbit overheard was a salesmen saying how Incline Village parents come down to buy their teenager their first car and it usually is the sporty WRX.  But six months later the kids come back wanting to upgrade to the even sportier STI.  Must be nice.  We'll see if that trend continues in 2009.

Friday Is "Wear Red Day"

Perhaps in one of the few times this legislative session where red will be in the majority, well except for the state budget, this Friday, February 6, is National Wear Red Day.  So expect a lot of Nevada Dems to temporarily cross over from the blue to the crimson tomorrow.

And it is for a good cause.  While most people are well aware of the dangers of breast cancer, heart disease is actually the number one killer of women.

A Pair of New Nevada Political Blogs Launch

Reflecting perhaps the current salad days of the liberal political blogging world a pair of new Nevada blogs have recently started posting.  One you'll recognize, the other joins The Anon Guy in, well, anonymity.

Former Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Erin Neff has resurfaced at ProgressNow Nevada.  Perhaps more of an organization than strict blog, it also touts its marketing services for the community, Neff describes her new venture as "pushing progressive agendas with a Nevada online database fighting back against right-wing messaging."

Also firing up in January was The Reno Iconoclast.  Promising to "offer honest commentary, a platform for liveley discussion and hopefully a kick in the ass to the complacent local media that often fails to connect the dots."

I Don't Think This Old Political Ad Helped Tom Daschle

The funny thing is, this is a kind of political spot that could run extremely well today (well, except for the polluting part).  The only problem is you would have to stay true to the principle, otherwise someone could dig it up decades later and make you look like just another DC fat-cat sellout.  Daschle didn't ... and someone did.

So That's How Cash4Gold Paid for Their Super Bowl Commercial

And it's not because Ed McMahon and M.C. Hammer were cheap.  Cash4Gold just doesn't pay you what your gold is truly worth.

Like a lot of people, Cockeyed.com was curious how someone could put a bunch of gold in a plastic bag and mail it on faith to a company who would tell you how much was really there.  It seems like a concept ripe for short-changing the customer.  And, apparently it is.

Cockeyed first took their gold to a pawn shop where they were told the actual pennyweight and their price per.  Their gold was worth about $200.  Yet when they mailed it to Cash4Gold, they received a check for about $60.

But where it becomes interesting is when they called to complain.  Cash4Gold mysteriously found a way to triple their offer, essentially admitting they were ripping you off with the initial lowball check.  (Apparently this upping of the initial offer is part of the Cash4Gold customer rep training, with bonuses for reps who keep customers from asking for their gold back.)

But The Story Gets Even Better

After Cockeyed posted their revelations, and were picked up by The Consumerist, they found themselves on page one of Google for "Cash4Gold" searches.  That prompted an email from the company to the bloggers.  But unlike what happened to us and Mr. Jerz, Cash4Gold took the more friendly approach and offered cash for removing or changing the offending post.  It didn't work.

Charter Cable Update: They Must Use Google Alerts

After posting about the ludicrous policy of having to prove a person has died by presenting a death certificate in order to cancel Charter Cable, I received an email from the company (apparently they use Google's search tools like everyone else in the world).  There was the requisite apology and clarification that a death certificate is not needed to cancel a deceased one's cable.  However, an obituary is.  That's not much better, but apparently an online Legacy.com version sufficed in my case.  An actual refund has also been generated.

Still, an obit seems excessive.  Plus I doubt one could say to a Charter phone rep to go online and look it up.  And with the cost of running an obit in even small newspapers skyrocketing (e.g., $89 and $130 for my father's) I suspect many will run into problems there.  Will the two-line death notice papers still run count?

But that may be a moot point if reps at Charter's Nova Scotia call center and specialized support in St. Louis still insist on death certificates.  The St. Louis guy even checked with his superiors for me, which makes me think the "obits are okay" rule isn't truly the official policy.  Either that or nobody reads their training manual anymore.

Still, in the end, I think the best advice is to lie and say you are the person.  Another option, as a commenter pointed out, is to have your parents place your name on the accounts too.  But that's sometimes easier said than done.