Sweet Ad-of-Mine!

*If ITT Tech is so great, why does its ads include the statement that school 'credits are unlikely to transfer.' To a regular college that is. If they can't transfer to a run-of-the-mill college, what good are they? And what respect can graduates expect to find in real life? What should be better taught to high school students is the importance of a college degree---and from a school whose credits CAN transfer if necessary.

*It isn't enough that modern toilets have flushes with too little water, but now Scott is advertising that their free items will reduce the use of water each time the toilet is used. Great. Pretty soon, somebody will be espousing the use of only three squares of toilet paper per visit---wait! Hasn't Sheryl Crowe already suggested that? Does she practice what she preaches? If so, I wouldn't shake hands with her.

*And now a Twixt commercial consistently and in all it's variations, condones lying and infidelity. Caught with your pants down? Caught lying? Caught by your spouse getting a message from your girl friend? Eat a Twixt to give you a moment to come up with a flimsy excuse.

*By the way, if you purchased a 1933 Double Eagle clad proof for $23.95 when gold was $800 an ounce [troy], your gold would have been worth 81 cents. With gold now at a record $1,340 per troy ounce, that same coin's gold is worth a whopping $1.34! Talk about investing in gold. Stick to the real things and you'll be in a much better position---even if you sell it off before you it hits peak value.

*World's Best Cat Litter---made from whole kernel corn. Does anyone believe that those two mental giants in the advertisement are really tasting cat litter? If so, I have some building property in the modern Okefenokee Range for you. Real cheap. And another WBCL commercial has volunteers smelling cat urine. Now what has that got to do with anything? I hope WBCL pays the actors well. I wonder what it'll be in the number 2 commercial?

*The Elevator Speaketh - While riding my elevator down to the main floor to pick up a UPS delivery, the speaker started. In seconds, my friend and I were listening to a telemarketing call to reduce our heating costs. Besides the fact that by HUD regulations, heating is included in our rent, how is it that we receive a call in an elevator? And I couldn't shut her up. She went on and on with her spiel. When she took a breath, I told her this was an elevator. It didn't phase her. She kept on with her marketing. When we left the elevator, she was still spieling on.

*In the 'yuck' Department: does anyone else out there think that 'post nasal drip' sounds like the name of a new cereal? I know. Too much Harry Potter influence, I guess.

*I heard recently the beginning of the NASCAR Martinsville Race. It began with a spiritual invocation, and it led to the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by a group of school kids. The kids then went on to sing the National Anthem---correctly, by the way. Most professionals don't know the words, the song, or the meaning. They're mostly neck singers anyway [instead of singing from the gut and diaphragm], and they're just at the race with the hope of sparking their professional careers and putting their own vocal spins on the Anthem or just for publicity. It's too bad no other sport allows such normal American expressions. They're all worried about ACLU and Liberal critics. So much for freedom of speech.

*I wondered about the new card seller, Moon Pig. I suppose the powers-that-be think it's sales idea is funny and modern. Nope on both accounts. It's just another attempt to make a profit by misleading the buyer by not saying things. These cards may be easy for the 'active' or 'bored' individual, but they are very impersonal. Everything's printed, and of course, the buyer has no opportunity to write anything personal or even sign the card. Emailed cards aren't any better. Remember: anything entered into the Internet never goes away. So that should warn you about anything personal in the cards.

The cards are $3.99 to $7.99 plus, depending on size. I visited the site and looked around. Maybe I'm getting old, but I didn't find much real humor in their humorous cards. Some were dumb, some were insulting, and some made little sense. For the 'Saints' category: St Patrick; Ireland; almost all about drinking; St George, St David, and St Andrew: secular.

The Christmas cards are invariably secular. A few, under the category of traditional design, show some Saints and the Virgin Mother, but they either have 'Season's Greetings' or nothing on the card. As per the site's reason for being, you have to supply the sentiment.

All in all, though, there are a few good cards. But I doubt I'll be using this impersonal site for cards. I don't even think those e-cards are quite the choice either. Take the time to go out and buy one. Buy a few. My Uncle John's sister, Sophie, used to keep a pile of them in her dresser drawer along with many small gifts all wrapped up. When you visited, if there was a birthday or anniversary to celebrate, Aunt Sophie had just the thing, leading you to believe that she bought it just for you.

*Want younger-looking eyes? Want to be in the Hydrolyze test? An offer that will last only 24 hours? Don't worry too much about it. The same commercial has been running for weeks. That's a lot of 24 hour periods, isn't it? Besides, it isn't free. You'll get charged for something, probably the infamous 'shipping and handling' or 'separate processing fee.' In any case, the company makes a profit with the S&H or SPFee. They don't lose a penny. This is just a selling ploy. It's not like the jar contains molten gold or anything. It probably cost 50 cents to make.

Or you could try Instant Effect, as long as you have a credit card number to give them for security. With IE, you must act within five minutes of the start of the commercial. This commercial also gets countless showings.

Celebrities, Shills/Lawyers

*Lawyers are proving again and again that they are basically unethical, and in many cases it goes to a corrupted state. Ads on TV now sound like fishing expeditions with the hope of finding a client to give them 30% or 40% of any settlement. I find this distressing. It seems the lawyers are checking every drug possible to examine the stated side effects around which to prepare a commercial---which will sound very serious and denigrate needed medications. For the most part, when patients take medication they are apprised of the side effects either by their doctors or the information inserts with each medication. -- 'Did you suffer injuries from tripping over your shoelaces? You may be entitled to financial compensation from the shoelace manufacturer [a sort of Aglet Case]---and if we don't win there, we'll go to the shoemaker. If you rent, we'll go to your landlord. And if all else fails, we'll sue you. We want to go to court and win. How is not a concern.'

In an effort to pay their ever-increasing staff, lawyers are suing everybody they can, whether frivolously or not. And since most medications and products have side effects and dangers that are clearly stated, their efforts are simply to get settlements and raise the cost of living for every patient in the US. They also clog the courts for the Attorneys' own purposes. I guess, they want everyone to live in bubbles and be secure from everything.

*I keep seeing these TV ads by Regions Bank. Can I get one of those green bicycles they're putting together?

*All celebrities and politicians should be required to wait until they're 65 before writing a memoir, and only until after an election for the President, Senators, and Representatives. And they can't cheat by hiring shills to write one for them. If young people want to get their points across, they should start taking notes. If they can't use them when they retire, later biographers can use them for a biography after the celeb overdoses. For one, I'm tired of seeing young teens and six year-olds write an autobiography [with a ghost of course.] They are usually looking to do something to cash in on their fifteen minutes before the end up on the trash heap. And I'm also tired of the no-brain contingent out there who buy and read these ridiculous things.

*This is in the ITT Tech TV commercial: "If you want something, go out and get it. Don't let anything stop you." This is great advice. It's how we create criminals. 'If you want it, take it.' Or a 60's hippy: 'If it moves, fondle it.'

*TV ads promote amoral activity in America. For example, lie to your daughter when you wore her dress [complete with flashbacks.] When she asks about it, deny culpability, dig it out of you hamper, launder it and sneak it back into her closet. And this mother is supposed to be a role model?

*There is a decided lack of talent with today's celebrities and wannabes. I've heard a number of them singing the National Anthem, and their voices are poor to middling without electronic enhancement and cover-up. Besides, a well known song like the Anthem is easily singable, and 90% of these singers don't know the words or the song music itself. It get's tiring to see them gum up the works. And on those occasions I see amateurs singing the Anthem and a slew of other songs, they handle them quite well, know the words, and understand the music.

*From the Wikipedia: "Bahá'í teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, or to create a complete and accurate image of, by themselves. Therefore, human understanding of God is achieved through his revelations via his Manifestations." This comment is understandable in most Christian faiths. And it's a fine answer---if a somewhat limited one---to the scientists/atheists who still cling to the 'by chance' theory.

*Quaker State claims that its artificial oil is so superior that, when it needs changing it still exceeds the manufacturers specifications for new oil. I have questions. If it still exceeds manufacturers specs, why does it need changing? To make the consumer buy more? To increase the Quaker State profit line?