Pharmer's Market

A Couple Little Big Things

1. What is with the sizing of men's clothes these days? Everything L has become M, everything XL has become L...and so on. Most men's clothing is now form-fitting, and it is ridiculous. If someone wants a form-fitting shirt, buy a smaller size! Don't make Larges into Mediums!!! This also creates confusion for guys with man-boobs. I suppose you can't buy 'cool' clothes after your 25th birthday, and must do your shopping at Sears or JC Penney...where the original, 'nerdy' rules still apply.

2. Check out the LifeStraw. A "straw" that can filter most standing water into...drinking water! An invention that can change the world. Currently, they aren't sold retail to you and me. But you can get them on eBay right here.

Conservative Yappers

I have this affection for talking heads and current events. I enjoy the news and all, with the one guy behind the desk. But I really like it when people get around a table and argue about stuff. I love watching The View's Hot Topic segment because it is "real people" (as in, not politicos trying to push an agenda) engaging in quasi-intelligent conversation...more often than not. Whoopi is awesome. Bill Maher's show is another round-table example. I have to download episodes because I don't get HBO. I also love the Sunday morning lineup. Meet The Press, Chris Matthews, George Stephanopoulos.

But lately I have been addicted to listening to another breed of political talk. Specifically, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity on conservative talk radio. I don't know what is more entertaining, the fact that I hate everything they say...or that I hate the manner in which they do it. It gets me fired up and I am neglecting good music to hear them spew garbage.

What I have discovered by listening to them is just what their job is. Sure, we all know they are pundits for conservative republicans. But they have a more specific role to polarize everything into 2 sides. They have to keep their listeners thinking inside the box. Us against them. Conservative against Liberal. Republican against Democrat. Pro-Business against Populist.

Even more fascinating is that this must be achieved using sophomoric means. This is quite the effective technique when you have an easily influenced audience. When you listen to callers, it is obvious that these are people that can't think out of a black-and-white, 2-sided box. So calling people names, finger pointing, and drumming the same soundbytes into their heads over and over and over...does the trick pretty well.

One of my favorites is the demonization of Al Gore. By polarizing Al Gore down to a leading liberal figure (the bad guys), conservatives (the good guys) must hate everything he stands for. The most glaring use of Al Gore is making him the embodiment of Global Warming. Here is an example of their sophomoric techniques... Sean Hannity always rips Al Gore for riding around in a private jet, while mocking him for telling people to ride bikes to work. Here are their accomplished goals, in the listeners minds, by saying this:
-Al Gore looks like a stupid hypocrite,
-by attempting to discredit Al Gore, they discredit global warming
-Environmentalists are impractical zealots for thinking you should keep your gas-sucking SUV in the garage every now and then,
-easily-influenced listeners get a pro-business, pro-oil, anti-environment message, and leaves them open to criticize anything Al Gore does...which now includes his Nobel Peace Prize. Seriously, they made fun of him all day today for getting a Nobel Peace Prize.

Does anyone stop to think why they are told to hate environmentalists and global warming? Just as a person living on this earth, what sense does it make? These people aren't the thinking type.

NEWS FLASH: Pro-environment people don't worship Al Gore. The environment was precious long before Al Gore came around. Al Gore is to the environment, as Bono is to AIDS in Africa. You don't have to be a U2 fan to want AIDS to end.

DirectBuy

I am sure most of you have seen those annoying DirectBuy commercials on TV. Join their special club and save tens of thousands$$ on your furniture and home improvement projects! Well, I have wondered just what the heck this place was, because the commercials smell really fishy. Like I always do these days when I question something, I Google it!

Turns out it is a scam, any way you slice it. I am surprised that places like this are even legal. Here are some of the details:

-You accept their "free pass" to visit a local showroom. This "visit" is essentially a sales pitch to join, like a timeshare or those investing-made-easy seminars.
-After watching their 90 minute presentation, which doesn't include any specific pricing or product information, they funnel you into the sales room where you get "one-on-one time" with a membership salesperson.
-You are pressured to pay around $5000 for a 2 or 3-year membership (depending on where you live), then around $200 a year after that...and you have to commit for 10 years.
-You have to decide RIGHT THEN AND THERE whether you want it or not. If you leave to think about it, you cannot return for 7 years! Banished! No crap! Check the websites below, it is true!! Why would you hand over $5000 to anyone that tells you that? Keep in mind, this is before you are allowed to price their merchandise!
-Many people at the sites below say the salespeople are assholes, with more off-putting pressure than a used car salesman. And many have turned plain ugly to them after they opted out.
-Most people that joined said it takes months for their product to arrive. And that shipping and handling fees usually raise the price up to where there are no savings at all.
-It is well-established that you have to buy $18,000 in merchandise to break even, and you have to buy $40,000 in merchandise for significant savings. What percentage of their customers will this benefit?

They know damn well that 80-90% (my figure) of their members will never buy more than $18,000 in stuff. That is how they came up with the $5000 figure in the first place! It is the point at which they can guarantee a profit! The merchandise is just a front to get the $5000 up front. They aren't dealers of merchandise, they are collectors of membership fees! Simple economics, folks. This is how hard-working Americans get screwed.

I feel bad for the people that are suckered into this. Like one of the comments on the site below said, "why would you trust anyone that won't let you compare their prices around town...before you give them $5000"?

Question everything and be a "no" person. Unless someone needs a hand, then you can say "yes, I will help you, friend!"

Here are two sites with juicy complaints. If you are like me, you can't stop after reading just one.

http://www.infomercialscams.com/scams/direct_buy_scams

http://www.infomercialratings.com/product/direct_buy

Are you serious, Orlando? Goya?

Check out this silly little story:
http://www.wftv.com/news/14263381/detail.html

I understand not many people have ever seen La Maja, or even heard of the artist Goya. Maybe that is why some might be offended by this. Just some nude woman for everyone to see. However, the reason it will be allowed to stay up is because it IS by Goya...and also one of his most famous paintings. My favorite quibble from the news "Is it Art? Or is it obscene?" IT'S GOYA!!! I am pretty sure the question of his artistry has been settled!

OK, so this IS one of the first appearances of pubic hair in western painting, and Goya stirred up controversy in his own time. Goya was a realist painter. He didn't paint La Maja like the classical, pube-less nudes of the Renaissance. But still, it isn't pornographic. Boys and girls grow hair on their private parts, kids! Crap like this is why Orlando is a joke.

This might just be a publicity stunt. No, it probably is. But the prints that were hung look more informative than aesthetical...with a description and comparison of Goya's clothed and nude versions...surrounded by menus, etc. If they wanted to stir up more controversy, they could have just put up a plain print. The one they used seems to fit into an artsy-culinary theme of the restaurant. And it is much less vivid than this:




If they want something to really stir the folks up, they should put up works by feminist-artist Judy Chicago. She makes La Maja look Puritan!



Judy Chicago, Red Flag, 1971