They laugh while you suffer, Part 34

If there was ever any doubt that giving huge tax breaks to megacorporations means only that CEOs spend it on themselves and not on growing our economy or creating new jobs, witness all those CEOs giving themselves huge bonuses or redecorating their offices with taxpayer bailout money. One would hope that “here endeth the lesson,” but I’m betting the lesson doesn’t end here at all.

Press conferences

I’m really digging that MSNBC and CNN (I don’t know about Fox News since I don’t watch them) are carrying the full daily press conferences with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. I’m pretty sure they’ll eventually stop, but it would be cool if they streamed these on WhiteHouse.gov in the future. We’ve got the freedom to watch House and Senate proceedings via C-Span, but we should have the opportunity to watch these press conferences live and unfiltered too.

“Bashing”

Who’s making money?

Who’s making money these days?

McDonald’s.

US fast-food giant McDonald's said Monday its 2008 net profit soared 80 percent from a year, lifted by growing demand from consumers seeking low-cost meals in a deepening global recession.

Hate crimes

Hate crimes are on the rise since President Obama's election.

The Wrath of Khan – The Opera

Robot Chicken strikes again.

Don’t hate us cuz we have good weather

For those of you who were getting jealous of southern California because we were having sunny days with highs in the 80s while you were shivering in arctic-like wastelands, don’t worry. The universe is back to normal.

There was hail in east L.A. county last night. And we could be due for some snow closures in the mountains and passes.

Do you feel better now?

More companies going under?

Lots of names on the list of big companies that could be going away, joining Circuit City and several others on the economic ash heap of history.

On the list... Gap, Starbucks, Zales, Sears Holdings (the company that operates Sears and K-mart stores), Cheesecake Factory and more.

It's possible not all those companies will shutter the whole operation, perhaps they'll just close hundreds of locations.

President Obama has been telling us for some time now that the economy isn't going to be easy to fix. He's told us that it's going to be tough, and it could take years. Which is why I'm perplexed by a local L.A. radio talk show team (I won't say who, since I know them and they're cool people) going on and on about how "surprised" they are the "economy isn't fixed yet, because Obama told us everything would be great once he was president." Obama never said anything like that, but I guess when it comes to material you've kind of got to make it up as you go along.

Hey, they have to earn a paycheck too, so they can head down to the one place that'll still be open -- McDonalds.

Scary stuff

Domestic eavesdropping was a LOT more widespread than anyone thought. Are we going to find out more stuff like this?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This explains the mysterious voice that came on my phone line when I was ordering pizza. I was wondering if I should get extra cheese or not, and this weird, unidentified voice came on the line and told me about the latest government studies on eating too much cheese.

Yes we did.

Hail to the chief.

Foundation!

Well, THIS makes me tumescent! I'll be in heaven if it's done right...

Columbia Pictures won an auction late Thursday for the screen rights to Isaac Asimov’s science fiction trilogy, "Foundation". The film will be developed for director Rolan Emmerich, who will also produce with his Centropolis partner Michael Wimer. A complex saga about humans who are scattered on planets throughout the galaxy, living under the rule of the Galactic Empire, "Foundation" was published in Astounding Magazine beginning in 1942 as a series of eight short stories.

"Ann Coulter" on SNL

Bye bye, Circuit City

Circuit City, RIP. All those endless hours I spent browsing the CDs, the TVs, the videocameras...

Also, not only is Flight of the Conchords back this Sunday, tonight the final season of Battlestar Galactica begins on the Sci Fi Channel. I have to praise the genius of Ron Moore -- take a cheesy 70s show that wasn't very good, and turn it into one of the best dramas on TV.

Flight of the Conchords

The wait has been too long... but Flight of the Conchords is FINALLY back with new episodes this Sunday on HBO.

If the universe keeps throwing things at me to hope & wait for, I'm never going to get around to offing myself.

Goodbye

Khhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn!!!!!! is dead. Ricardo Montalban, RIP.

I still have a crush on Tina Fey

... but does she have to be so... married?

Trojan warning

Via Snopes:

There are emails floating around with subject lines like "Obama acceptance speech." They contain a link purporting to be a video of an Obama speech or other important news event, but it tricks you into downloading a file pretending to be an update for your flash or video player. It's a trojan. Don't download.

Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a ringing or a noise in your head that never goes away. Generally, it's caused by hearing nerve damage. It can be caused by trauma, loud events, or sometimes it's merely a symptom of age or genes. But it's real, and it can range from a mild irritation to suicide-inducing agony.

It never goes away. Not to be confused with that ringing in your ears you sometimes get after a loud concert that eventually fades, this literally is a loud ringing or noise that never, ever, ever, ever, ever stops. Not even in your dreams.

Some people are lucky. They're still able to concentrate, carry on conversations; they're able to mentally relegate the sound to the "background" and hear the sounds they need to hear.

Others aren't so lucky. In some cases the sound is so loud the sufferer can't concentrate on anything else. They're unable to hold a job, sustain a relationship, or accomplish simple tasks.

There are treatments offering various levels of success, but they're often beyond the financial resources of sufferers, and many times insurance doesn't cover it.

So they live with it. And continue hoping for a cure.

Work to find that cure is being done by some organizations. The American Tinnitus Association is one such group. Not only are they looking for a cure, they're also looking for more affordable treatments that can help lessen the severity and suffering.

Check them out and give what you can.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are tinnitus sufferers as a result of being too close to a special effects explosion during the filming of Star Trek's "Arena" episode. Here's a message from Shatner about his experience with tinnitus and the work being done by the ATA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7bL9BhESYA

For you non-Trekker "heathens"

Okay, so I heard from a few people about the post below -- "I know about Nurse Chapel, but what the hell does 'the original Number One' mean?"

I can't believe I am living among the heathen. You mean, there are people out there who are unaware of every bit and kibble of Star Trek trivia? You mean, there are people who have not seen every single episode and every single movie, or can't recite whole pages of dialogue, or know Captain Kirk's serial number? I'm not sure I want to live in such a world.

"The original Number One," as it applies to Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, refers to the fact that she played the original "Number One" -- the first officer -- in the very first filmed pilot of Star Trek, way back in late 1964. That's the one that starred Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike, the precursor to Kirk. The network rejected it, asking for a second pilot, but parts of it showed up later as a "flashback" in an original series episode.

It wasn't until much later that full prints were found and restored and the original pilot was aired on television.

Majel famously went on to play Nurse Chapel in the original series. In the Next Generation, she played Lwaxana Troi, Deanna's mom. She reprised that role a few times on Deep Space Nine, and was always a highlight of any episode in which she appeared.

But through all the various series, she was the voice of the ship's computer. And shortly before her death, she voiced the computer part in the upcoming J.J. Abrams' version of Star Trek, slated to hit theaters in May.

There will be a quiz on all this later. What's that you say? This is nothing more than useless trivia? Why... I'm not sure I want to live in such a world...

Kathy Griffin: Too funny for CNN

Kathy Griffin is funny as hell. But the last line is the best -- even though the CNN producer probably should have made sure her mike was off.

Obviously, this means there's no such thing as karma

Yeah, I'm a capitalist. I like the idea of being free to make money. Sure. Why not. But at some point, you stop being a capitalist and become a cancer. You begin killing the host. You begin doing more harm than good to society.

Merril Lynch got huge government bailout because, we're told, they were "too big to fail." (Never mind the fact that if you're too big to fail, you're too big -- you're an insupportable parasite on the economy. But hey, 20-20 hindsight, right?)

Anyway, one lucky chap just happened to have been working for Merril Lynch for only three months before they got the big bailout, a veritable mountain of taxpayer money. But even after the bailout, this guy resigned -- quit -- and got a 25 million dollar bonus.

Happy new year.