Stupid Things

“74-year-old resident of Attleboro, Mass., told lien would be placed on home” because of an overdue water bill with an amount due of exactly 1 penny, reports the Associated Press via MSNBC. This paragraph in the story was priceless:

Eileen Wilbur told The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro the letter sent her blood pressure soaring, and pointed out that stamps cost 42 cents.

The City Collector seems unapologetic:

“My question is, how come it wasn’t paid when the (original) bills went out?”

The story says the charge was from the previous fiscal year, which ran from July 2007 to July 2008. If the blind woman doesn’t pay it by Dec. 10th, she’ll face a $48 penalty and a lien on her home. All for ONE stickin’ penny. You would think that the computer system could establish a threshold of, say, anything less than $1.00 would simply be ignored, if for no other reason than to save the cost of the stamp, the envelope, the paper the bill is printed on and the labor cost of putting it all together.

I agree with the homeowner’s daughter, who described the situation as “ridiculous.” Ridiculous indeed.

Has this campaign boiled down to this? “Outrage” over Newsweek cover because Sarah Palin’s photo was allegedly unretouched?

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Fill in the blank…

The ____________ uses crises, real or manufactured, to expand the power of government at the expense of the individual and private property. He has spent, in earnest, 70 years evading the Constitution’s limits on governmental power. If ________________ don’t stand up to this, who will? If they don’t offer serious alternatives that address the current circumstances AND defend the founding principles, who will?

And the correct answers (as intended by the original author) are Continued

Think Progress posts a brief transcript along with the corresponding video of a simple question asked by Katie Couric that elicited a very convoluted answer from Sarah Palin:

COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —

COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.

PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.

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Can you name at least one of the publications you read for news?

How tough can this question really be to provide at least one bloomin’ example of where she gets her information? Even if she said Fox News, which would surprise no one, at least it’s a simple, straightforward answer. Does she really not know? Or is it she just doesn’t get her information from any newspapers or magazines? Perhaps she gets her news directly from Sean Hannity.

This is who the Republicans want to be their next vice president? Seriously?

Another email I received today after the one I posted earlier…

Sir

I want to invite you to partner with me in a financially rewarding and expansive business transaction;this partnership and its resulting growth, will positively affect a lot of lives and empower a lot of youth,widows,sick people and orphans in the third world.

I look foward to hearing from you and especially you consent after I give you the full details of our project,Please send me your telephone contact for expedient communication.

Vincent Thabo

I post emails like these partly because they humor me and partly because they annoy me… and I always like to share those things that are humorous and/or annoying…

This mail has been sent by misszaina via Forums

From : Zaina Ishaaq ismail

Hello Dear,

Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business relationship with you. I know this mail may come to you as a surprise, since we have not known or written before.

Afer you receive this mail kindly contact me on my private Email contact below. Introducing myself, I am Zaina Ishaaqismail , the Only Daughter of the late Ishaaq ismail

, my father was a gold and cocoa mercahnt based in accra , ghana and Abidjan ( Ivory Coast ), he was poisoned to death by his business associates on one of their business trips recetly.

Before his death, He called me on his bedside and told me that he has a sum of $6.500,000USD deposited in one of the prime bank here in abidjan ivory coast , that he used my name for the next of kin in depositing of the fund.

E-mail address above ( princesseszaina1985@rocketmail.com) Anticipating to hear from you soon.

Awaiting your urgent reply
Regards
Zaina Ishaaq ismail

Reply to my private e-mail box below: ( princesseszaina1985@rocketmail.com )

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Quite often, I reply to the private e-mail box and let them know that I would not be able to assist them with this matter, but I would forward to someone who can, the U.S. Attorney General. I know it’s probably ineffective, but it makes me feel a little better!

While some would like it to be so, it doesn’t seem to rise to the level of criminal activity. But one police office thought so and charged a man with battery for farting near him. MSNBC reports…

A man has been charged with battery on a police officer for allegedly passing gas and fanning it toward a patrolman.

Jose A. Cruz, 34, of Clarksburg, W. Va., was pulled over early Tuesday for driving without headlights, police said. According to the criminal complaint, Cruz smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and failed three field sobriety tests before he was handcuffed and taken to a police station for a breathalyzer test.

As Patrolman T.E. Parsons prepared the machine, Cruz scooted his chair toward Parsons, lifted his leg and “passed gas loudly,” the complaint said.

Seriously? I mean, are you freakin’ kidding me?

I know it’s nasty and all, and I certainly don’t want to be around it, but to charge someone with a crime because they farted near you seems more than a bit of a stretch. What’s next? Belching could qualify as a citable noise complaint?

Has our society just completely lost its mind? It’s just plain ridiculous.

Politico reports that the RNC sent out this bulletin yesterday:

“The Honolulu Star Bulletin reports Barack Obama ate popcorn and watched the 3:40 showing of the Dark Knight in theater 9 yesterday.”

Seriously? This is worthy of a bulletin? It is if you’re desperately grasping for straws for anything to smear your opponent with. Jonathan Martin explains:

Seeing a summer action flick and eating popcorn is hardly elitist, but wait, there is more.

Obama has said, the RNC hastens to note, that Batman and Spiderman are his favorite superheroes, citing their “inner turmoil.”

Ahh, there it is.

Real, red-blooded Americans, evidently, are only supposed to like superheroes because they have nifty outfits and beat up the bad guys. To look beyond the surface or glean some larger meaning from the characters naturally implies Obama has the sort of egghead end effette approach to life that would leaad us to analyze our enemies instead of defeat them.

Or something like that.

It would be easier if he just went wind-surfing.

Let’s forget about the issues. Let’s concentrate all our energy on the innuendo. That’s what helps elect the best person to be the leader of the free world. It’s worked well in the past two election cycles, right?

Ooops! Double ooops!

It’s always a good idea to know what you’re talking about before you talk about it. You may not know what you’re really saying… and it may not reflect well on you or your wife. (Note: This video may not be completely safe for work… or for minors… or for the easily offended.)

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Courtesy Politico, here’s what happens when spellcheck goes terribly awry in an AP wire story…

CHICAGO - Presidential candidate John moccasin on Sunday endorsed a proposal to ban affirmative action programs in his home state, a policy that Democratic rival Barrack Abeam called a disappointing embrace of divisive tactics. In the past, moccasin has criticized such ballot initiatives.