1,012 thoughts on “Jack Mangans Deadpan 156: Run For Your Lives

  1. I’m glad I’m not the only one up way too goddamn late.
    dreadpirate, I believe the smiley snafu was the character adjacent to the colon. There needs to be a space.

    :jack:

    Goodnight, awesome ceiling :cth: t-shirt 🙂

  2. Um did anyone else realize that Jacks sentence –

    “I believe the smiley snafu was the character adjacent to the colon. There needs to be a space.”

    may be the best sentence ever written?

  3. I’m too tired to write a sentence that isn’t of nonsense and I was going to say something funny about the adjacent to the colon thing as well.

    Starting coffee iv drip now.

  4. reaper when you have time you should check out the last episode of that Jay and Jack Lost podcast. Good good detail on the names. Highly Lo Pan approved. Check it before you wreck it!!

    CP: JACK FUCKIN MANGANS DEADPAN PODCAST fuckers.

  5. I immediately started singing the song as soon as I saw the title of this episode. When I got it downloaded, I skipped to the end to see if it was the song used. I was right, it was. 🙂

  6. LOL Moment 1: “The Cuter King”
    LOL Moment 2: Jack’s impression of me.

    Awesome stuff.

    About the end of this episode of Questers from EffPeEm: Does this mean that Jack is related to Beetlejuice?

  7. I agree Lo Pan. Semi-helpful is the best I would give it. Some info is some what handy but nothing earth shattering. It is usually “Remember in Season X when X happened. Keep that in mind as you watch this seen.”

  8. ComputerKing: Heheh! I didn’t have Beetlejuice in mind when I created the rules of my story or wrote that scene, but I guess in-story Jack and Beetlejuice are cut from the same cultural-background cloth. I think the idea of a supernatural entity appearing when someone says their name X times is older than either of those stories and inspired both of them.

  9. I also think it’s charming, EssBee – – but I won’t run it in the future, if it makes you cringe.

    Relevant results from last night’s hockey:

    Cj’s Swedish men finally lost – – to my Slovakians.
    Vanamonde’s Fins beat ditto’s Czechs.

  10. MMMmmmust talk to :jack: about MMMmmmeeetup.

    Should I page him to the :pan: phone?

    I’m guessing we don’t have a :bat: phone. See? I put a bat between my colons and nothing happened.

    It’s all :alien: to me.

  11. Bank visit successful. Paperwork submitted. Identity reclaimed. Apparently someone in Texas really needed gas. And someone in Tennessee, and Palm Springs, and Big Springs. Oh, and someone in Mew Jersey REALLY needed Taco Bell.

    ok. Venting over. 🙂

  12. it’s more of a pain in the ass than anything else. glad I’ve got a bank that’ll cover this and even if they didn’t, I’ve got identity theft on my homeowners insurance.

    Hmm…. I now have a valid excuse for not making i to the mmmmmetup! I’m $400 lighter (well, it’ll be back in my account before mmmeet up, but hey).

  13. I may have mutated into a CASUAL gamer (eeeeek!).

    Been playing the trial version of Plants v Zombies and err..um..it was fun.

    I’ll get my coat.

  14. Well, that was it, as of 4pm or so, no job, no pay for three weeks of work, no insurance…

    Had some close friends over tonight for support (& they brought pizza & beer, yay).

    Tomorrow, apply for benefits, go to Workforce center to see what they have, consider options for mortgage modifications or short sale of house…

    Maybe we need to find a van, as we already live near the river…

  15. American TV just showed the medal ceremony for the Canadian women’s hockey team. Watching an entire stadium full of people singing along with “O Canada” was MADE OF AWESOME. I sang along, too. 😀

  16. Want to look like a weirdo in a coffee shop? Just wait for a rainy day and proclaim in the queue that you love the rain to the staff.

    If looks could cook, I would have been well roasted.

  17. Catching up:

    Lo Pan – our bet included women’s hockey (go ahead, look back and confirm), you owe us a Canadian National anthem

    JB – *hugs*

    Van – I like the rain too. Everything smells nice, the sound is relaxing and, in a thunderstorm, it’s very pretty to watch.

  18. Yknow I gotta say tho that the US has shown up big time for these games. I didnt think theyd break 25 medals, let alone 30. SO thats good to see. Cool that Canada is tied for the most gold as well. Own that podium, Canadia! ;P

    Did you see the US women crying after they lost? HOW BOUT YOU SHOW UP AND PLAY SOME HOCKEY INSTEAD OF FIXING YOUR MAKE-UP!?!?!?!?!?

    *runs Superman fast*

  19. Yeah, Lo Pan. There’s actually been a lot of flack by the press and government because we haven’t got a real high overall medal count. However, I feel this does the athletes a disservice. This is a record number of gold medals in a winter game for Canada. Also, we have the same number of gold as the US. It is the gold medal count the IOC uses to determine winners, not overall. The US instituted a similar program 20 years ago. When it first came in, they got a whopping 6 medals total. It took them 20 years to reach their very large medal count. Give it time Canada. And lastly, way to put pressure on, and bring down the athletes. “Oh, we don’t have the medal count of the US so our athletes are doing terrible”. Gotta be good for the self esteem. Still more sports to compete in.

  20. Ive been reading about that flack in the Suns (Vancouver and Calgary). I dont think its real fair to the athletes but whatever it takes I guess. Seems to take away from the silver and bronze winners determination and hard work tho., You put too much emphasis on gold and you end up crashing and burning.

    Right, like I said Canada is tied with golds (US and Germany) so thats what I said is cool. Tho I think the IOC’s determination of a “winner” through gold only is idiotic. Actually the notion that a country can “win” the whole games is dumb in the first place.

  21. Forthwith here, Feb 26 2010, EssBee (Defendant) is hereby determined to appear in front of a court of law as one Lo Pan (Plaintiff) deems it necessary and wishes to collect damages of an unspecified amount due to said Defendant finding one Simon Cowell attractive.

  22. Tip for American Idol contestants: You can’t pull off Stevie Nicks’ songs. Or Heart songs. Or Beatles songs.

    Boo.

    I just like the guys with the bitchiness.

  23. Listening to the Stuff Mom Never Told You podcast. They said, to avoid the problems associated with women’s fashion and self image, clothing should be banned in general (they were kidding). That’s fine for peeps who live in warm places like Arizona, what about us northerners who’d freeze their tootsies off?

  24. I’d be happy with a silver or bronze medal.

    Little known medal fact (or maybe greatly known *shrug*): Each medal seems to have a slightly different design on them. Put all the medals together and they form one giant mosaic. I’m assuming someone took a picture of the design before they were given out, but am having trouble finding such pic.

  25. Which is odd cause almost all of em have measurements on their profiles. I was marveling at the lesb…er..women’s hockey players measurements the other day. Them girls would destroy me.

  26. TEB: I agree 100% with your sentiments about Canada’s medal count.

    Lo Pan: I agree with you, too. I think it’s stupid to think of an entire Olympic Games as having only one winning country.

  27. I was watching the ski jumping Saturday, and the asshat commentator kept saying “fat doesn’t fly!” He said that a 6’2″ skiier (male, now) at 150 lbs was too heavy.

    Ridiculous!!

    Also, there is no crying in lesb . . . women’s hockey. Total fail.

  28. Yeah arrogant Americans! Own the podium!!!!!
    (Sorry EB, had to ;P )

    I think Im just gonna run around the city shouting “fat doesnt fly!” at whoever I see.

  29. Mass Effect 2 – you need 11.7GB of free disk space to install.

    Good thing I’ve got a terabyte hard drive, but still. That’s a lot of data.

  30. Lejon, Lindsey won ONE medal “injured”. So she fell? She’s fallen in ALL of her events but the one she one gold in. all i’m saying is dont come in with the label of “America’s Best Women’s Skier EVER” and “The Michael Phelps of Skiing” and fall 3 or 4 times. Perhaps it was not her fault she was labeled that, but she was labeled it nonetheless. For a reason. So yeah, to rebut your point it IS unexpected for her to fall and crap out like this in these games. Sorry, just is.

  31. Oh, I suppose I could be controversial and start mentioning that in her gold medal event, while Lindsay was coming down the hill, ahead of pace, every little misstep she made got pointed out by the commentator, including the fact that she was favoring her right “injured” leg:

    “oh, that was a mistake… oh another mistake.” etc.

    So, I guess we can all be sure that Lindsay knows, and will know for the rest of her life, that she got that gold medal making an imperfect run, and she’ll have to live with that for the rest of her life. I only hope the gold medal will make up for some of the mental anguish she’s going to go through over how imperfect and flawed she is.

    Sheesh.

  32. Dudes … quantifying any of these athelets skills is NOT based on whether or not they ever fall. It’s based on their finishing records.

    If those who actually follow the sport have called him/her the best … that would likely be based on their over-all performance, not in just the one or two races you watch every 4 years. Further more – maybe, just maybe … to win more than anyone else you have to ski right on the edge of disaster, which means sometimes you fall.

    add me to the “Sheesh” list.

  33. I hope so too. Once youre told youre the best ever in something when youre clearly not… yes I’m sure thatll be a wonderful crash back down to earth. Do like it? Dont accept all the fucking accolades to begin with.

  34. Cool. Then if shes been that good her entire career she shouldnt have fallen 3 times because shes good enough not to do that. “Sometimes” isnt falling 3 out of 5 events. Just isnt. Maybe, just maybe, she didnt deserve all the hype she got in the first place.

  35. Final question before I decide to work again…. US has a speedskater by the name of Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr..

    Can…one BE a “Junior” if one is a female? I guess technically… just odd to see.

  36. JR!!! Oh Ive been loving Charlie (ew) this whole year. You know theres shirts at Hot Topic, right? Course that means actually entering a Hot Topic…

  37. I’ll be talking to Rich Sigfrit during the Boom Effect at 1pm tomorrow – and I’m not sure when, but I believe they’re going to be running some video content from me too. I hope you guys can check it out. http://www.theboomeffect.org.

    Looks like Slovakia almost pulled it off. Almost. A personal anthem, ay? Oh, Canada. 😉

    All right, I’m off. Goodnight Candy Mountain.

  38. Morning Pan

    In for a couple of hours. Stupid month end. Then out, so will miss The Boom Effect.

    Saw the last ten minutes of the game. While Canada won, it wasn’t a pretty win. I’m starting to have my doubts about tomorrow’s gold medal game.

  39. Sonic Boom/ Mmmmmeetup mashup

    Saw this item –
    http://www.theboomeffect.org/?p=390

    SB066- Beer Tasting event
    I will organize a private beer tasting for you and 5 of your friends.

    I was thinking that if a bunch of the MMMmmmmeet Up participants were to pool their funds and win this item … the “flight of 10 beers will showcase the range of modern craft brewing.” could be held during one of the MMmmmeet Up events.

    Doesn’t THAT sound like fun!!!! 🙂

  40. Good luck with the Boom Effect stuff today.

    As an FYI, I know I haven’t mentioned it, but I’m in Hawai’i and under a tsunami alert. Should be fine, but I’ll let you know.

  41. I’m looking for advice from the wonderful tech-savvy people here. I want to do what seems to me like a fairly simple thing. I want to set up gmail (preferably) to send in a single contest entry per day email to Slice of SciFi for a set period. Every time I look to do this, all I can find is information on auto reply emails (which require that someone email you first), spam programs that allow for a single job of sending out one email to a large number of people, and one program that will send out a maximum of 20 emails in a month without paying $50. Does anyone know of a free way to simply send out one automatic email a day for a specific period of time?

  42. UH, if you have Outlook 2007 (I think all versions actually do this) you can create all of the emails and then set a delivery delay on them. The only issue would be that your Outlook has to be open at the time you want the email sent in order for it to generate the outgoing email.

    You’d just set up your gmail account in outlook and create all the emails at one time and set each to a different delay.

    That’s the only way I know you could do this.

    http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP052427901033.aspx

    Someone else might know something better.

  43. So far, we’ve had about 4 minor 3′ waves hit Hilo Bay. Nothing major. Fingers crossed, but it looks like nothing bad will happen around here. I figure so long as they are landing planes here on O’ahu then things are fine.

    Vacations. I can pick ’em. I thought this was supposed to be stress relief! 🙂

    Enjoy your weekend guys.

  44. Just finished putting together the climax of The Questors from Effpiem, Season 1. I’m really, really happy with it and very excited to share it with you. (Still have the rest of the episode to finish, though.)

  45. Ah found it:

    New Year’s Eve is coming back
    Gone around the zodiac
    Raise a beer for one more year without a fatal heart attack

    There’s no time for pessimists
    So make your resolution list
    Knowing you’ll most likely break them all by January fifth

    Resolutions!
    Every year the same charade
    Resolutions!
    These are some that I have made

    Build a robot servant girl
    Invade and conquer Disney World
    Overcome my meth addiction and my rabid lust for squirrels

    Stumble upon a cancer cure
    Appear on Ninja Warrior
    Start a business that produces chocolate office furniture

    Resolutions!
    Learn to play the clarinet
    Resolutions!
    Keep a sandwich as a pet

    Beat a five-year-old at chess
    Play rugby in a wedding dress
    Press the big red button that they say I’m not allowed to press

    Organize my music files
    Buy some art from TV’s Kyle
    Buy some Zubaz in the naive hope that they come back in style

    Resolutions!
    Trade my arms for tentacles
    Resolutions!
    How is that not sensible?

    Fix the world economy
    Write some haiku poetry
    Have a plastic surgeon realign my nipples vertically

    Sell my soul to Lucifer
    For twelve White Castle hamburgers
    Become the Queen of Jupiter, this song is getting stupider

    Resolutions!
    Wear a giant purple pimp hat
    Resolutions!
    Translate Tolstoy into lolcat

    Lead the NFL in sacks
    Drink a case of BRUTOMAX!
    Learn to breathe alfredo sauce and teach the violin to yaks

    Mow my friends’ and neighbors’ lawns
    Get my favorite t-shirt bronzed
    Sneak into the Vatican and give the Pope a purple nurple!

    Resolutions!
    I should look at dieting
    Resolutions!
    And not eat while I’m trying to sing

    Donate to a noble cause
    Get a healthy liquor buzz
    Find out what this button does

  46. Morning Pan!

    Have a car for a few hours – woo hoo. Means I’m off to the grocery store, since I couldn’t go on Friday, then will be back in time for the big game.

    This is Canada’s last shot to break a record. They (we) are currently tied with the Olympic record for the most gold medals during a winter game. Although, to be honest, I think the US has a better shot at making gold. Damn Americans. :angry:

  47. It looks like I’m going to not have a car of my own for another week but life will be back to normal next Saturday. It’s a good thing too. Hubby and I were already talking about how to get me to the airport on the 11th if I didn’t have a car.

    I live at the far end of the city opposite the airport so a cab ride is $70 one way. The park and jet is $15 a day – for 5 days = $75. You do the math on why I drive to the airport.

  48. Prediction –

    Canada 3
    Damn Americans 4

    Just going off what Ive seen thus far. Could be just wishful thinking. Either way Im looking forward to (hopefully) one great hockey game. Honestly for a team picked to finish up 4th or 5th, even just getting the Silver fuckin kicks ass. And thats the…SILVER LINING if the US does lose.
    *rim shot*

  49. I understand the plan now. For Canada, it’s not about getting more goals, it’s about stopping the US from getting any more. Sheesh.

  50. What comes to my mind though, Ignla played a hell of an olympic series. What kind of a player would he be if hewas put on a team with real front liners, instead of being the one trying to hold the team up?

  51. Boy the US team looks grumpy as they are receiving their medals. I personally think they did great and should be very happy and proud with their silver. They worked damn hard for it.

  52. There. Tomato chili pork chops in my tummy. Hop Head IPA in front of me, ready to be consumed. Bring on the closing ceremonies (in 40 minutes)

  53. Just finished watching the latest episode of Caprica. Even though it’s slow moving, I’m enjoying the show. I hope Ron Moore will be given enough time to start brining the ends together.

    Now… ready for closing ceremonies.

  54. Nope, he was a fixer mime. Then Catrona lemay Done came out of a hole in the ground to light the torch. She was the one who just stood there during the opening ceremonies because her piece of the torch didn’t work for her to light.

    Then a bunch of people dressed in white, carrying fake snowboards came out and danced around. It was very confusing

  55. Meanwhile, hubby is looking up idols I can get for my D & D character. I’m getting the ivory goat of Trevail (sp?). I guess he turns into a goat for 8 hours and has such powers as ram’s charge.

    This too is very confusing.

  56. Holy crap. We have the Canadian version of Menudo sining the Canadian national anthem.

    Say it with me… it’s very confusing.

  57. Of course, I go on about Canada’s record gold medals, however the US won a record number of total medals in any Olympic games. Good job. Don’t care what anybody else may say, you obviously worked hard and therefore deserve what you got.

  58. NBC put together a really beautiful montage of a bunch of event-winning and medal-ceremony moments, set to “O Canada.” I loved it.

    TEB said: Of course, I go on about Canada’s record gold medals, however the US won a record number of total medals in any Olympic games. Good job. Don’t care what anybody else may say, you obviously worked hard and therefore deserve what you got.

    Thanks! 🙂

    All this time, my mom and I have been wondering why the bouquets of flowers they give to the medalists are always these ugly green things. My mom jokes: “Can’t you grow any good flowers in Canada? If you can’t grow any good flowers in Canada, why don’t you just give them a branch of a pine tree or something?”

  59. Blah. NBC is showing their stupid new series “The Marriage Ref” for an hour, then showing the rest of the closing ceremonies at 11:30. I got as far as the end of the big, strange musical number with the giant beavers and moose. Forget that, I’m going to work on this podcast a little bit more and then go to bed.

  60. Okay, I’ve put all the creative energy I have into this episode. Time to go to bed and recharge.

    I’d like to end the night with this final thought on the Olympics:

    I am very, very happy and proud of how Canada fared in this year’s Olympics. I rooted for Team Canada a lot over the past two weeks. My entire 2010 Winter Olympics experience would not have been nearly as fulfilling, or nearly as much fun, if I hadn’t had friends from there. Thank you, TEB and ditto, for being my friends. My heart is glowing tonight, too.

    Good night, Pan.

  61. Well Pan I’m in a mood for a naff movie, off to see that new Travolta flicks, all reviews I’ve seen suggest it’s a bit of a traincrash…woot!

  62. As for the flower thing, despite thoughts to the contrary, Canada has all the modern conveniences; indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, central heating, and… greenhouses. Honest, I don’t live in an igloo.

  63. Good morning, DP!

    Van, I love Being Human. We saw the actress who plays the ghost on Dr. Who and got very excited. She’s purty.

  64. That’s sweet, Lo.

    As the day will for sure go unrecognized here, I might have to leave early or something just for my own reward-seeking ego. Or maybe I’ll see if I can find Mark.

  65. I know everybody is having bad work news, but we got some good news. Hubby’s getting a raise and they’re making it retroactive from September. That means a six month bonus payment in March. Now, what to spend it on…

    – Actually, I told hubby it’s his to do with what he wants. I see another guitar in our future…

  66. EssBee: The ghost is certainly purty, mostly ‘cuz of her quirky mouth.

    And congratulations/condolences on doing a decade. I’m 8 months from my decade with “We Make The Best Stuff That The Internet Has Made Obsolete!”

    WMTBSTTIHMO for short.

  67. “Perfect to wear with jeans, a leather jacket and a motorcycle- nothing more…”

    Going commando, and what’s under that jacket?

    Are they comfortable to wear in bare feet. Sometimes, without socks, boots will leave blisters.

  68. I’m not too worried about how they were with bare feet. I assure you, my siblings aren’t certain I even have feet inside my socks (I don’t. Just black holes waiting to be contained in socks again.)

    [makes scary eyes]

  69. Amy, the Truth is sometimes a powerful thing. Even when it means obsolescense.

    Obsolecense. Obsolete-sense. Obsolesense. WHAT THE FROG?

    Obsolescience.

    Obsoleciense. Obsolecience. Obsolesiense Obsolesience.

    Obsolescents.

    [twitch]

  70. Maybe all of the female athletes for Winter and Summer should be required to wear burkas and big fluffy jackets during their events, lest any of the viewing audience see them and have sinful thoughts.

  71. What, a man can’t admire a woman who knows how to handle a …

    Okay, I guess there is a little bit of innuedo there. But, I don’t really remember seeing an unattractive woman pole vaulter.

  72. You know, after seeing the crap the Nintendo pulls (locking downloadable games to a machine rather than an account), I’m appreciating Steam all over again.

  73. Hi! I like innuendo. Yes there were embarrassing parts of the Closing Ceremonies, but I did enjoy what NBC aired. Like Amy, I wasn’t interested in watching the Marriage Ref. Congrats to the Bunnies and EssBee. Hope everyone else is doing well too. Later.

  74. Mister Jack Mangan: No. Cobra Commander is a dick. That’s funny onna acount that he became a snake at some point. ‘course, he had to get fixed. His face got better lookin’ though.

    Nah, if he came by the Strong Back, Weak Mind, Moving Co., our friendly Trolls would accidentally drop a house on him then steal his shoes…

  75. I never watched the GI Joe cartoons when I was a kid, or read the comic (was there a comic? I seem to think there was). We did however, see an episode fairly recently, I don’t think it held up over time. And I saw the movie. Does that count?

  76. [GI Joe nerd rant] The comic was about 1billion times better than the cartoon, let alone that goddamn bullshit fucking movie. Actually both the 80’s movie and the movie that shall remain nameless of last year were terrible. The comics were smart and (usually) well written and the origin stories were generally far above and beyond that of the cartoon. [/Gi Joe nerd rant]

  77. I didn’t see hte Dennis Quaid movie. My G.I. Joe experience as a kid was 97% with the toys. I’d found the cartoon somewhat disappointing, and only occasionally read the comics. Then I grew up and got mature.

  78. Do you know it’s 5:30 in Ontario. I point this out because I’m suppose to get some reports from there in order to finish up my month end. I sincerely hope they were planning on staying late. They are not allowed to leave until they FIND MY MONEY!!!!

  79. I operate on Ontario time. This means I’ve been at my desk since 6:15am, which is 8:15 in Ontario. As such, I’ve been at my desk for well past the normal eight hours office time. I think my butt is going numb.

  80. TEB: I’d like to point out that Here in Arizona, we also do not live in igloos, but we occasionally live in adobes.

    I completely missed the last couple days of the Olympics. Missed the closing ceremonies and all the apparent weirdness with it.

    Instead, I had a wedding anniversary party, and spent time with the wife.

    Oy, Canaday… Congratulations!@#?!

  81. Van, I read somewhere once:

    Sleep is a truce
    Death a surrender

    I don’t think I’ve ever really understood that but, for some reason, I always found it profound.

  82. All I can tell you, and Jack and Cj can confirm, is I kept complaining about the heat when I was out there last September. I sometimes felt like I was melting.

  83. Truth is, Lejon, I don’t like the cold. My hubby indulges me and the house is set for 23C and I still have a sweater on. I’d rather be in the sweltering heat then the silliness that is winter.

  84. Amy, yup. Have listened to it since its inception and also have the first book (second not available in Canada yet, which seems silly) I knew one of the cast too. He was in the Dex space series they ran in the summers.

  85. Mistress The Energizer Bunny: To surrender to you, might only seem like a little death.

    *mental note: must learn French – better impact with the double entendre*

  86. TEB: Awesome! 😀 (I made my last post before I saw your last one – oops.) I was going through the series in order, but stopped after only 18 episodes. I really want to start it up again, though. Maybe after I get through my backlog of 7th Son episodes from this past fall.

  87. OrGo, I don’t know any French (unless you count a poem about kittens), so any double entendre that way would most likely be lost on me.

  88. Amy, they usually do six episodes of Red Panda followed by six episodes of Black Jack Justice. Then in the summer, they do various shows. Use to be a space serial but this year was a western.

  89. TEB: The film isn’t high art, I’ll grant you, but before there was Firefly, this is the sort of Space Western we had… and where else could you see George Takei, Julie Newmar, and Carel Struycken in the same movie?

  90. < short rant >

    I had blood work done in December, I have yet to get the results from my doctor’s office, and I’ve been billed for the tests.

    Called doctor’s office for results – They don’t have them.

    Ass-hats!

    </ short rant >

  91. Hubby called. Is on the way home. I haven’t even finished my work, let alone thought about making dinner. What am I going to do? I guess it means a later dinner for the bunny household.

  92. Lucky for my hubby, I actually started the spaghetti sauce an hour ago so it could simmer. He can cook the noodles and make the garlic bread. I’m still working.

  93. Hawaiians love Spam (the processed meat product)

    they have hundreds of recipes for it… it actually scares me a little bit.

    Anthony Bourdain (sp?) actually went to hawaii and tried a number of Spam dishes, and found that he liked the way they made things in Hawaii… I wouldn’t trust things off the Island though.

    ditto, maybe you can settle the debate and try some spam while you’re there?

  94. Chuck was good tonight…

    Too bad next time we see it we’ll be testing out a borrowed converter box to see if we get it OTA out here, the dish is on suspension starting tomorrow.

  95. TEN pieces of music in this episode of “The Questors from Effpiem.” We did it, though. It’s all over but the end credits now. I love this feeling. 😀

    Night, Pan. 🙂

  96. Congrats on the big conclusion for the Questors story. It’s been fun to hear your growth in writing and production.

  97. Oh, and don’t you hate it when your brain gives you a nightmare to wake up from because you’ve fallen asleep on your hand and it’s going numb? Then, you look a the clock and see that you are too close to wake up time to try to get back to sleep?

    Yeah, me too.

  98. I’ve pretty much managed to avoid nightmares since I was a lad, but the waking up with both arms so numb I can’t even tell if they are still attached… yeah, that sucks. Any time, but even worse when there isn’t enough time to sleep off a recovery.

  99. Jack:

    You might be interested to know that after listening to the closing piece, I decided it must have been a cover (due to your violent exhortations to the crowd to join in) and found Iron Maiden isn’t as Satanically bad as I’d been led to believe.

    Not bad. Not bad at all.

  100. Lo Pan: Couldn’t agree more with your nerd-rant. The writing in the old G.I. Joe comics was pretty good, and reasonably intelligent. A far cry from the lasers and anti-grav nonsense in the cartoon and later comic issues.

  101. Morning Pan!

    Van. I have trouble believing Segourney Weaver didn’t know Avatar was Sci Fi. No one can be that stupid, can they?

  102. Wolf, Alberta is redneck country. For example, the guy across the street has fake bullet holes on his truck. However, point taken.

  103. While it’s probably a completely wrong stereotype, and with apologies to Ed, I’ve always considered Albertans a lot like Texans; rednecks with money.

  104. “Lots of decent Russian women to choose from”

    Hey! My pasty self can only ask for “decent” anymore. Sign me up!

    Null – yeah youd think with unlimited ammo they could at least hit each other. Lasers! Fa!

  105. Oh Jesus….

    “Bill Murray appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman last night. When Dave asked him about Ghostbusters 3, he called the nonexistent movie “a nightmare,” and confirmed he’d only come back if they “killed Venkman in the first reel.” Which would be distressing if Murray’s utter lack of desire to make a third Ghostbusters film wasn’t so utterly apparent.”

    This deal’s gettin worse all the time.

  106. If any franchised deserves a proper reboot, it’s Ghostbusters. I’m thinking of an entirely new cast where David Murray (not Venkman) gets killed in the first reel. 🙂

  107. Johnny Null has huge tracts of land.

    Yes, Amy, I’m looking forward to the final Questors! Congratulations on making it to the end.

    Lo, I have to tip my hat to the Murray Head reference.

  108. Thank you very much, Jack! I just finished recording the credits. Unless one regular actor (no one here; an RL friend) gets me lines (and it’s no big deal if he doesn’t, because I already have replacement lines in), all I have to do now is listen to it one final time, make any tweaks needed, and then export the file. 🙂

  109. Jack and Jay? Yeah his laugh is terrible but at least he admits it.

    hahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahehehehehehehehehehe

    Jack that was awful…. I laughed alot, but still awful. Gods bless ye.

  110. My eyes are dry and, I
    My eyes are dry and
    I, I still don’t even know you
    I, I still wish that I could hold you
    I, I sometimes wanna die

  111. EssBee, The cackling makes it hard to listen at work because it is so loud and some of the calls as so quite I have to be careful with the volume.

  112. I went back to the show after the last epp of Season 5. I do like what they have to say. I can’t imagine to many other shows where I could watch 43 minutes than go and listen to more than an hour of break down.

  113. “Shaving Dim Sum” was a reference to a Justa J0e VM from awhile ago.

    Agreed, reaper. Lost is certainly rich enough in detail and intricacy to merit indepth post-analysis. While I guess soaps have the same hooky plot twists, I’d like to think that Lost’s appeal is on a somewhat higher level.

  114. JR, I think “Bacon Explosion” was one of those items listed? (although maybe it should be renamed “Intestinal Explosion”?) And while I mock our generation’s bacon fanaticism, I currently have item #3, the bacon chocolate bar, in my cupboard at home.

  115. Lost is one of the few shows I want bad on Blu-ray after it is available as a full set. It might end up being $300 but I think I could watch it several times and not get everything out of it. Now I just need a Blu-ray player…

  116. This afternoon’s SPAM message:

    ==YOUR MALE DRUG STORE. Save 70% on all orders NOW!!!==

    Maybe for those decent Russian women?

  117. RE: Sigourney Weaver’s Quote: Avatar was trying to make a point?

    RE: Nightmares: I avoid them largely by watching a lot of TV and not sleeping all that much. (Yes, seriously)

    TEB: RE: Sigourney Weaver’s Quote: Yes, people can be that stupid.

    Lo Pan: I believe you are restricted to decent Russian women with dragon Green eyes… Of course, you may have gotten over that whole curse thing…

    #catchingup-alwayscatchingup

  118. For some reason, I feel like posting unbroken lyrics…

    I am governor Jerry Brown
    My aura smiles and never frowns
    Soon I will be president…
    Carter power will soon go away
    I will be Fuhrer one day
    I will command all of you
    Your kids will meditate in school

    California Uber alles
    California Uber alles
    Uber alles California
    Uber alles California

    Zen fascists will control you
    Hundred percent natural
    You will jog for the master race
    And always wear the happy face
    Close your eyes, can’t happen here
    Big Bro’ on white horse is near
    The hippies won’t come back you say
    Mellow out or you will pay

    California Uber alles
    Uber alles California

    Now It Is 1984
    Knock knock at your front door
    It’s the suede denim secret police
    They have come for your uncool niece
    Come quietly to the camp
    You’d look nice as a drawstring lamp
    Don’t you worry, it’s only a shower
    For your clothes here’s a pretty flower
    Die on organic poison gas
    Serpent’s egg’s already hatched
    You will croak, you little clown
    When you mess with President Brown

    California Uber alles
    Uber alles California

  119. been using win7 for a while now and happy to say MS actually did something right. should we call this a vista reboot? seams to fit with all the movie “reboots”

  120. Quite possibly the most satisfying Lost of the season so far. No brain bleed, no hidden mysterious enigmas… just in you face goodness. reaper n EssBee n Jack… yall gonna dig, y’hear?

  121. I have no experience with “V” but a bud had a box running ME (and using that Intel ram disaster) that was utterly horrible. I preferred 95 without any of the later patches and service packs that made it actually usable. The only thing that ME had over it was built in USB support.

    Faagh.

  122. Oh my. Check out comment #36 by mark evans:

    My great-great aunt Em did not hold with divorces although she had several after her husbands ran off. Funny thing was that after she died they found several unmarked graves of unknown men on the farm. It is not clear if they were the missing husbands or just someone else and it was not clear if Em killed them or not. Harder marriage laws and easier divorce laws might have saved a few lives. Or maybe not. (If anyone is dating an Evans lass please keep in mind that Em is admired by a lot of my female kin.)

    O.O

  123. Great-great aunt Em: O.O

    Palin: The press needs to stop inflating this lunatic.

    JC’s decision: There’s no money in Open Source creations – – who knew?

    Moon: goodnight.

  124. I hurt in places I forgot I had. Made some changes to my exercise pattern to “shake things up.” Not as adaptable to shaking as I used to be…..

  125. Ed, I have herd that is a good idea now and than. I can’t wait to start going to the gym again. my new employer offers reimbursement for gym memberships as long as you go 8 times a month.

  126. Indiana Jim’s latest episode did a great dis assembly of JC’s post as well as Mark’s post. He really called each of them out for their comments.

    God, am I really awake already? WTH?

  127. I didn’t read the entire post by JC Hutchins for a few reasons: 1) I can’t read that white font on black background, and 2) I just don’t care much. I did see the line where he says he’s aborted plans to podcast his last novel. Oh, the imagery.

  128. Sorry Van, no pic. That would require forethought. I didn’t have any thought except. My office window faces east so I see the sunrise. Camera is… I don’t know, must ask hubby. Hence,no picture. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

  129. “JC’s post as well as Mark’s post.”

    ??? I saw the link to JC’s farewell post but what’s this “Mark’s post”?

    Re: Hutchin’s revelation
    Seems like Jack and I had a conversation about this whole “Podcasting isn’t going to make anyone any money” thing some 2 years ago.
    You have to do it because it is fun for you. Sure, it might bring some cash in … you also might win the lottery. Best not to make your plans based on either one of those things happening.

    I never read or listened to Hutchin’s stuff and it’s simply because I’m not in the position to consume that much media. He was always on my list to check out when the que got empty but it never gets empty. So there you have it.

  130. I’m suffering through work since 6:30 this morning, babe. Whatcha doin’ yourself?

    I’m going to remain polite, JOe, and say that I enjoyed the 7th Son podcasts a lot. Period.

  131. Would that make me more special because I got my own post or less special because I was forgotten in the first one…
    Yes, I’m baiting…
    Do with that what you will :drevil:

  132. Im suffering thru the same goddamn thing. Funny that…. work is awesome, you know?
    *grabs ipecac*

    Coincidently I enjoyed 7th Son of a 7th Son

  133. walking through the plant I just heard Backwater off Too High To Die by Meat Puppets. I really loved that album. It was so strange no one else would listen to it. I should find that album again. I know I have a stack of CD’s some where.

  134. There’s a kid at work who insists on making “Boner” jokes.

    It’s like a sickness. He can’t stop himself.

    He knows I’m a Star Trek fan and he’s literally going overboard. Followed me through the parking lot explaining that George Takei would no longer be attending conventions because there would no longer be any “Boner” there…
    I worry that it will continue today.

  135. Cj, That would be cool. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who needs to read things a few times to get it right. I mess that kind of think up all the time.

    EssBee, I normally don’t ask for directions because the person behind the counter replies with “no from round here”. But this time I’m going with north because lake “Winneseptic” is that way.

  136. Jack: I’ll be sending the Questors finale along in the early afternoon today.

    Has anyone else ever played the icebreaker game where everyone picks an adjective to go with their name that starts with the same letter as their name, someone starts off by telling their adjective and name to the group, and each succeeding person has to recite the entire list before adding their own? The last time I did it, I picked “Audible Amy” and explained about my podcasting. “Awesome” and “Amazing” were too generic for me, and at least one of them was already taken.

  137. Yeah. A good facepunching might be more effective than my walking rapidly in the other direction.

    The issue is that I’m so unnaturally exhausted at this point that I don’t have the energy to be witty or physically violent.

    Gotta run and finish this EOM spreadsheet now and then volunteer in my daughter’s classroom before I head back to that place that is draining me of my desire for human contact.

    (side note: the job and the people are most excellent. I’m just tired of talking on the phone for 9 hours a day. I don’t want to talk once I’m off work.)

  138. My husband just walked into the room and said, “So Dan was reading this article that said today is talk in third person day.”

    *sigh*

    I shall be bludgeoned with humor today. I just know it.

    There are worse things with which I could be bludgeoned I supposed.

  139. Ok, final hockey list with peeps and their anthems. As I said, if you’ve already submitted, don’t worry about it. With any luck, mine will go out today.

    Ed: Finland, Sweden
    ditto: Finland, US
    The Energizer Bunny: US
    Vanamonde: Sweden, US
    WNDRWolf: Finland, Belarus, Canada
    Nomad Scry: Czech Republic, Slovakia
    Amy: Canada, US, Slovakia
    Lo Pan: Canada (twice)
    Cj: Slovakia
    Jack: Canada, Finland

    I think that’s everybody. I’ll send out the final colour coded sheet to Jack later today when I send in my anthem.

  140. CJ – From now on when this guy tries to talk with you … do the old, quick glance over his shoulder/worried look/ saying “Shhhh! Do you hear that?” thing.

    Done to him enough times, he may learn to fear you/leave you alone.
    If not, he might just get tired of being interrupted and look for less distracted prey.

  141. 7th Son is a really good story. I’m just wondering what JC did outside of Social Media (and Cons) to promote his books. He OVERSATURATED Social Media to the point of I was tired of hearing his name.

  142. Van – The sound of the moustach will make it obvious.

    Maybe we should make “Evil Twin” day a thing here on the Deadpan. Sort of like “Talk like a pirate” day except with more evil and less Arrrrrr!

  143. I think I’m just going to remain mum on the entire issue.

    As for the anthems – – what Bunny said. Do one or two of your obligations, have fun. This shouldn’t become a burden. My team also lost to the Czechs, btw – – I’m planning to cover that one.

  144. I agree that podcasting is a hobby and anyone who thinks it’s the next way to get rich is fooling themselves. That’s my opinion. Fans, no matter where they come from, should be appreciated. This is about community, not Who wants to be a millionaire.

    Anyway… It’s a speed bump for one podcaster. It’s not going to spoil my fun or my plans 🙂

    WOO WOO!

  145. As someone who may (or may not) be making money podcasting, I’d like to state that I never ever in a million zillion years expected that someone would pay me to do it.

    It’s fun.
    It’s something I can do with my husband.
    I like to hear myself talk (tho less so nowadays due to the job)
    When people like me, it makes me swoon.

    So – with or without money coming in, I’d still do my darnedest to bring fun and interesting content to anyone who wants to listen to me.

  146. JR: I agree with you about the promoting/oversaturating thing. I’m a busy person who would much rather spend my time here where people aren’t telling me nothing but how amazing they are.

  147. When it comes to putting up with boner jokes, one must stay firm in ones resolve, take matters into you own hands and be careful not to stroke the teller’s fancy.

  148. I won’t go on and on about the JC thing anymore. I’m reading a few more blog posts and good lord people are wordy. I’m seeing 2000-4000 word blog posts about this and I keep thinking… that’s one and a half to two of my chapters. I should be writing instead of reading. 🙂 or recording. March 10th is sneaking up on me.

  149. Here’s some fun video

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/make_this_man_commerce_secretary.php#more?ref=fpblg

    It’s Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) on Fox News this morning demonizing reconciliation as a horrible plot against America … followed by video of the same exact asshat in front of congress 5 years ago, praising reconciliation as a perfectly reasonable “rule of the senate” that allows the majority party to “take a position and pass a piece of legislation”.

    (the rest of this post has been removed for civility sake)

  150. the nuclear option was to get an up or down vote on judicial nominees because the democrats decided suddenly after 200+ years of a president being able to pick judges who are qualified for the bench should now require they meet some higher standard. in the case not be conservative or else we just keep debating them (filibuster).
    This time they want to make the most radical change in what government does and the media decides it should be a more warm and fuzzy term.
    funny how that works when the media is in favor of the change

  151. Well, no President in US History has ever had the authority to say “Make it So” and *poof*, there’s Judge Judy on the Supreme Court.
    Not even when we had “The Decider” – although under his reign, it would have been the “Nucular Option”.

  152. … errrr, if you have any links to info on these “most radical change in what government does” please (seriously please do) provide them because I am not aware of them.

    As a point of clarification of the origin of the term “Nuclear Option”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_option

    “In U.S. politics, the nuclear option is an attempt by a majority of the United States Senate to end a filibuster by invoking a point of order to essentially declare the filibuster unconstitutional which can be decided by a simple majority, rather than seeking formal cloture with a supermajority of 60 senators.

    Although it is not provided for in the formal rules of the Senate, the procedure is the subject of a 1957 parliamentary opinion and has been used on several occasions since. Senator Trent Lott (Republican of Mississippi) first called the option “nuclear” in March 2003; proponents later attempted to rebrand it as the constitutional option.
    Other names have included the ExLax option, the Turnip-truck option, and the Byrd option.”

  153. I see you are all long on humor today.

    Regarding the “boner” joker at work, I won’t be as soft on him today.

    I’ll tell him he can put his nuclear wessels where the sun don’t shine.

  154. I’m not saying a president should be able to just pick a person out of there ass and say your a judge. But the senatorial over site is nothing more than saying “Is the person qualified” that is left pretty open however being conservative does’t make you unqualified.

    On “most radical change in what government does” I forgot to preface that with since Social Security. not putting that in there just was just dumb on my part

  155. Here’s what I’ve gotten out of the political commentary:

    A visual of the president picking a person out of his ass.

    Thanks for that, reaper. It’s an image I won’t soon forget.

    :metal:

  156. TEB and WNDRWolf have good suggestions for J adjectives. The one person in our group with a J name used “Juicy.” Don’t ask me why. Just to be memorable, most likely. (Yes, this person was female.)

    JRMurdock: What you said. I’m not going to let any of this spoil my fun or my plans, either. 🙂

    Cj: What you said, too. I totally produce content for podcasts because it’s fun. 🙂

  157. I am so going to find that sound bite now… Thanks Amy…

    Pinky: What are we going to do tonight Brain?

    Brain: The same thing we do every night Pinky.

    Pinky: What’s that Brain?

    Brain: Take over the World Pinky.

    Or something like that…
    I have major problem right now in that I have WAAAAYYYY to much blood in my alcohol system…

  158. I know these subjects make people uncomfortable but I am trying to see beyond the “talking points” and I don’t have the Q&A access to the guys on TV that say these things like I have with you guys.
    So reaper, if your post about social security was in answer to my question then I do appreciate the clarification. I’m guessing then that the “radical change” you were referring to is “Health Care Reform”.

    In that case I think it certainly would be fair to characterize the proposed reform as “the first major upgrade to how the government looks out for the health of it’s citizens in nearly half a century”.

    Since (as you pointed out) the Government has already been looking out for the health of it’s citizens with Social Security, this really isn’t actually a “change in what Government does”. It’s just a v.2 of what they were already doing.

    It definitely would be change though and given how everything else in humanity has changed in the last 50 years(heck even in the last 10 years) … My current view is “If we maintain the status quo, why should we expect a different result?”

  159. I know you weren’t suggesting the Presidential Rectal Judicial Appointment, reaper.
    Call me naive; I think Obama was sincere in his hope and effort to cut through Washington’s partisan politics. Sadly, there’s too much profit in rift and conflict, significantly less in compromise and unity.

  160. I don’t think there are not problems with health care I just don’t think Government is the answer. I also don’t think we should have Social Security. So when we are at opposite ends of the spectrum in this way I don’t think you will ever get me to think government should be taking the next step. So I would rather rip out the whole social welfare system rather than move to v.2 of what isn’t really working that well.

    Jack, I think using reconciliation to get health care through would be the most partisan way to do it. I think Paul Ryan [(r) Wisconsin] has the idea that makes the most sense to me but you have to start over to get any of those ideas in there.
    The basic idea is make the people responsible and we will again have a real market. I know that leaves open people who decide to not get insurance but I don’t think the government should be a safety net for being dumb. This system of course has problems when it comes to getting started also.
    I hate to see the government run something like this when it can’t run anything with out huge operating losses. I just want uncle sam out of my pocket.

  161. If I had to fault Obama, I would say he is to prideful. He wants desperately to fix the healthcare system and rightly so, but it’s painfully obvious that with the current batch of politicians in place, nothing is going to happen. It’s time to move on to other important matters. I can’t speak for others, but I’ve seen my healthcare insurance premiums go up 20 to 50 percent every year and my benefits cut by roughly the same amount. I assume, without change, this trend will continue. I project about five years before the system collapses on itself. Only then will we get real change. But America is a democracy and as such we get the government we deserve. It seems that in our case we don’t deserve much.

  162. Wahoo!
    I consider this a breakthrough in our conversation reaper!

    Your stance on SS isn’t some abstract concept, it IS a specific idea that I can wrap my head around. While I can’t see just getting rid of SS without a suitable replacement … I certainly don’t hold the program itself to be some sort of deity that must be put in a glass case and bowed down too. I am open to replacing it. (Just not with anything involving Wall Street! I already lost THAT money.)

    So I have ask this question of others here before but so far no one seems to have an answer … All American’s with insurance are currently footing the bill for the 10’s of millions who choose not to (or can’t afford to) buy insurance (hmmm maybe they really AREN’T the stupid ones)

    For those who oppose mandated insurance, how would YOU propose that the rest of us stop getting stuck with the tab for the uninsured ?

  163. From Paul Ryan’s website: “My plan, The Patients’ Choice Act, ensures universal, affordable health care for all Americans. Under The Patients’ Choice Act, patients and doctors would control their health care decisions – not insurance companies and federal government bureaucrats. Equally important, my proposal does not raise taxes or increase government spending, but uses the money we currently spend more effectively.”

    So it’s possible to prevent citizens of every income level from getting denied access to healthcare in the name of big pharma profits without raising taxes? Sounds great.

    I’d need to learn more – primarily about on Ryan’s history, his motives, his proposal, and his reaction to Obama’s initial push for Healthcare reform.

  164. JOe, I’m on the mandated bandwagon here.

    If we could drive the insurance companies out to the woods and leave them for dead, THAT would be my ideal system. My fear is that Humana/Blue Cross/etc are going to end up = the government option. However, I know too many people who are sick and don’t have insurance, so suffer. The current system cannot continue.

  165. If healthcare insurance was mandatory, I don’t see how it could work as a flat fee to everyone, I see it as a percentage of income, which I guess would make it a tax. My concern isn’t about availability, but affordability. What would I propose?

    Here’s my hair brain scheme. Come up with a standard of cost for each medical procedure, use that as a baseline for the percent of income charge to the tax payers. Tie those standards back to the national GDP – GDP goes up 5 %, costs go up 5%, GDP goes down… etc. Cap how much doctors can be sued for. Charge lawyers a fee when they loose a medical malpractice case. Allow cross boarder drug prescriptions. Allow nurse practitioners to prescribe some low level drugs. Feel free to discuss.

  166. There is actually currently a criminally low cap in place now on malpractice awards. Your surgeon ODs on pre-surgery uppers and leaves his iPod in your colon? Congrat’s you’re entitled to a max of 10K. Luckily, the surgeon has that much cash in his wallet right now. Can you break a $50K bill?

    There should be better measures in place against bogus malpractice claims.

  167. reaper: RE: Win7 — officially per Technorama’s accounting of Microsoft’s releases, Win7 IS an updated Vista… which makes no sense, because Vista was complete crap and Win7 is not.

    Lo Pan: So, the dragon green eyes thing… what’s that, some sort of metaphor for your semi-incorporial flabby pasties?

    NS: RE: Palin — Worst Choice for VP running mate EVAR – The surest way to kill your chances at being president. When that choice was made, my choice became clear – Vote Libertarian…

    RE: JC Hutchins announcment: I can’t say I’m happy about it. I don’t usually say anything about JC here, but I did put out some effort to support him as an author. I didn’t go hog-wild, but I did give out his 7th Son book for christmas… The gifts were well met. What really bothers me is that for a 1st-time-in-print author, his sales supposedly out-performed the average unknown newbie by a wide margin. His sales figures “didn’t meet expectations” and that’s why he’s not being picked up… Totally bogus. The publisher was looking for miracles. I’m betting the economic downturn, coupled with publishing looking for nothing but cash-cows is what kept his sequels from being snapped up, not poor sales figures. Sequels are almost guaranteed to sell better. Unless you’re my wife apparently…

    VAN: evil isn’t usually announced. I think you’re faking it.

    JRMurdock: Must agree with the oversaturation of JC

    reaper: The Tick was a spoof of all things Superhero. It was brilliant. I suggest you retry it. No pressure.

    JRMurdock: YEAH, Baby!

    VAN: Now that I’ve caught up, you may disregard my previous comment. You can try harder next time. Don’t worry about the damsels, blow up the dam, or dyke… whatever you have over there in GMT

  168. I like how these Deadpan discussions are always logic-based. Scan political comments on most news articles, you mostly see empty insanity.

    “How’s that Hopey-changy workin’ for ya”, “Socialist Demo-craps” “Obama is a superninja!” “Nazi Republicreeps!” – – none of that accomplishes anything.

  169. Ooh. A logical Discussion:

    If all elephants are pink,
    and Sam is an Elephant,
    Sam must be pink.

    Except… Elephants aren’t pink…

    Darn, almost had that oen, but my basic assumption was wrong. Poor Sam, He’ll never know what color he really is…

  170. Deadpan is about ACTION! So, I think I’ve a good plan of attack. Memes are stubborn, hard-to-kill things. We still have religion, hollow-Earthers, dogs’ mouths cleaner than humans’, all sorts of nonsense. So we just need to re-energize the meme of responsibility, hard work, and occasional brain use. Can someone do this for me? Thanks, that’d be great.

  171. Dropping back in.

    Rhettro – those ideas seem to be a good starting point. I can’t comment on the 5% solution thing though because I don’t know enough about the numbers.

    Something to keep in mind about a hypothetical Government insurance program … right now, insurance companies decide how much they will pay for any particular procedure. The negotiate with the hospitals and tell them how much they are willing to pay. This is what makes a hypothetical Government insurance program cheaper for the tax payers then the current system of just having each individual’s unpaid bill split amongst the rest of us.

    The hypothetical program would go to the hospitals and say “I got 50 million potential customers for you that may need a tonsillectomy … what kind of deal can you make me.”
    For all this talk of socialism … that right there friends is about as “market based, free enterprise” as you can get. It is the same capitalistic approach that is taken by Blue Cross. The difference is that publically traded insurance companies are required by law, to try and make an increased profit EVERY quarter. That means every 3 months they have to find a way to make more money then they did the previous 3 months.
    A hypothetical, bare bones, “public” insurance program would only be trying to break even. That, combined with the principle of negotiating on volume, is why it could be made “affordable” to those of us who can’t afford private insurance.

  172. Jø = “nail on head”

    Part of our down fall is that we have an entire “financial industry” representing a huge portion of our GNP that makes ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. All of their money is generated by sitting around scheming how they can “re-package” previously repackaged financial instruments to make even more money off of something that is nothing more then numbers on paper.

    They make nothing and shoulder no responsibility for when their gambling goes awry. As for using their brains … as one of these clowns said in a congressional hearing “How were we to know that housing prices wouldn’t go up forever?” Maybe they could have ask a 5th grader.

  173. I, as well, listened to Indiana Jim’s talk about JC Hutchin’s post. I pretty much agree with Jim’s take on things. I didn’t really follow JC after the third 7th Son novel dropped as a podcast. I thought the first two books were decent, but I was really disappointed in the third one.

    I’m glad JC was able to get the first 7th Son published – that’s better that most people manage. The “Dark Arts” project just didn’t capture my interest.

  174. JJ,

    Government has never had any incentive to be cost effective. There’s little reason to expect them to start now. Government run anything is largely a case of a necessary evil – such as in the case of national defense, where an endeavor is too large a scale to be handled otherwise.

    Does healthcare rise to that level? I’m not convinced, but I have little doubt that additional government involvement will make things more expensive overall. The history of government programs is hard to ignore.

  175. Ed – that is definitely something that has to be addressed. The other end of the approach is the “all private sector” method.
    Sadly, we just had a “full up” demonstration of why something this important to our economy cannot be entrusted into the hands of the private sector. Our recent brush with a 2nd “Great Depression” showed –
    1) Businesses in the private sector WILL make decisions at the financial risk of our nation as a whole.
    2) Businesses in the private sector WILL make decisions based on “near term” profits even if it puts their entire company at risk for future financial failure.
    3) We have reached the point where corporations of the size that would be involved in this debate, ALWAYS put their stockholder’s interests ahead of their clients.

    So while I am open to the idea of a non-government run program that can provide insurance that is affordable to any working taxpayer, handing the hen house over to the wolves is clearly not the answer.

    Where have all the people with the new ideas gone. 🙁

  176. Something else that should be considered in this debate.

    The politicians would like to make Healthcare, Social Security, Medicare … all about “doing what’s morally right” or conversely, “robbing our pockets to give all our money to slackers” … but there is a more important issue that comes into play.

    When the upper teer of society basically writes off the lower income brackets, actually telling them that not being able to get basic healthcare is their own tough luck and that they can all go and frack themselves for being lazy … well, the French tried that model. You hear the far right whining about socialism now ??? Guess what leads to the sort of civil unrest and upheaval that ends in all the less then pleasant “isms” ?
    That would be, a large number of people who (right or wrong) feel like they have been written off by their government.

    Can you imagine if the 30 to 50 million uninsured people in this country had a national, 24 hour propaganda channel geared specifically to organize them!!! It would make this Tea Bagger bunch seem like a High School A/V Club.
    Even if these 10’s of millions of Americans ONLY engaged in organized “civil disobedience” it could have a major impact on our fragile, recovering economy.

    So my rather un-altruistic view of “social programs” is that they are the panacea that keeps our society from collapsing in on itself. I do NOT want to see what happens when 10’s of millions of frustrated Americans, who really have little to lose to begin with, become convinced that their government and the corporations that effectively run it – no longer give a darn about their well being.

  177. Well, the “Tea Party” is the best that we’ve come up with in quite some time, and it’s underwhelming, if you ask me. It’s not on American Idol, it doesn’t matter.

    I heard something interesting recently. I think it was on a podcast from Dan Carlin. He quoted someone else. Something to the effect that the U.S. government no longer serves the public, nor is it willing to make the hard decisions that a country really needs. It now only panders to the masses, a dog rolling on its back to get its tummy rubbed.

  178. He bought me a soda…
    He bought me a sodaaaaa….
    He bought me a soda and tried to molest me in the parking lot hup hup hup hup!

  179. After watching various YouTube vids and reading the accompanying comments, its my opinion the kids these days make me want to kill myself.

  180. I can’t disagree about the whole banking mess. While I do think the FDIC is a useful government program, the concept of government backing of deposits was intended to protect “the little guy” from losing his shirt if some numbnuts ran the bank into the ground. Under Bush/Obama, that concept was subverted into a system where bankers engaged in terrible risks because they knew they’d get bailed out.

    The potential reward must be tied to the willingness to accept the risk of failure. The problem now, and from what I’ve been hearing about proposals at “banking reform” is that we have a situation where the bankers are taking advantage of the reward, and the government (i.e. you and I) are getting saddled with all the risk.

    Derivatives, Credit Default Swaps, even put and call options – all those financial shennanigans should be off the table. At the very least, there should be no government backing of that kind of gambling. If you think a company is going in the right direction and their stock will go up, then BUY THE GODAM stock, not some gambling derivative. Conversely, if you think the stock will go down, DON”T BUY IT. The notion that you can root for a company to tank because you will profit from a drop is a notion I find pretty sickening.

    I better go shoot some thugs in ME2 so I don’t burst a vein in my head….

  181. After reading various comments here and taking in all sides of the story, its my opinion that the politics these days makes me want to kill myself.

  182. On a different note, Naveen Andrews, the actor that plays Sayid on “Lost” was at the Arizona memorial with, I presume, his son Joshua. It was very cute and most people were very respectful and left them alone.

  183. MANswers !!!
    I just saw about 2 minutes of a show called MANswers.
    We should hand healthcare over to them. Their solution won’t be any better then what is out there now but apparently it will involve large BREASTS generously flashed about.

  184. Miss Ambassador:

    So it isn’t an adverb/adjective/whatever-I-fail-at-English, but you should have gone with Ambassador Amy. Though Audible Amy is a good second choice. =)

  185. Re: JC. I have a personal issue with announcing intent. To paraphrase Yoda, “Do or do not.”

    That and I tend to get annoyed with folks who talk to much. Which is an interesting conundrum for someone who consumes as many podcasts as I do. I get burned out and go away and sometimes I forget to come back.

  186. NS: That’s why I strictly limit what I deal with. Considering my lack of free time, I’d rather not get annoyed with things I enjoy. Jack definitely has one of the few podcasts that I’ve never skipped.

  187. I’ve offset my usual posting time by a few time zones. Plus, it is a quiet night around here. No natural disasters today! 🙂

  188. I think that part of the burn-proofing that Jack has done here is to involve “his” community so strongly. It might get tiresome after a time if it were only one or three individuals, but that isn’t the case here.

    Which is my pomp-ass way of saying I enjoy the :pan: and have not tired in any way of it.

  189. I have to do my weekly machine cleaning, starting in 15 minutes, for the next two hours. Usually the new episode drops sometime while I am away… you know, actually working.

  190. NS: I know, and I agree. I also feel guilty a bit that I haven’t had time to participate lately; work suckage and all that. I know plenty can relate to that.

    Anyway, Deadpan is truly special and I feel privileged to be a part of it.

  191. Quoting justa JOe from earlier, because it needs to be repeated:

    Part of our down fall is that we have an entire “financial industry” representing a huge portion of our GNP that makes ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. All of their money is generated by sitting around scheming how they can “re-package” previously repackaged financial instruments to make even more money off of something that is nothing more then numbers on paper.

    Futures trading is evil.

    I enjoy declaring things evil.

    Eeeeeeviiiiilllll!

  192. BTW, technically, I’m on “vacation” but I’m also here helping a friend out that has recently been stationed in Hawaii. Helping someone setup house in “paradise” isn’t as much fun as it sounds. 🙂

  193. Lo Pan

    After watching various YouTube vids and reading the accompanying comments, its my opinion the kids these days make me want to kill myself.

    I thought Lo was already dead.

  194. Oh! and since I know you all LUUUURVE my work stories…

    Tonight, I got a marriage proposal from a customer.

    Apparently telling a man to shut-up and stop talking over me is incredibly hawt.

    Who knew?

    I’m kidding of course. I know men think it’s hawt. I just never had one admit it to me before.

    I’m not kidding about the story though. I did actually say that and then I said, “Hey, you like some customer service with SASS right?”

    I got the sale 😀

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