Uncle Walter's Rants

It is good to know that only important news floats to the top

 
Like pondering Putin's puppy puddle problem.

-UW

Blockbuster Video - Chapter 11 Has Finally Come

I want to take you back in time to an era where you would stay up late to see a movie on TV, before HBO was everywhere and on-demand meant going to the movie theater.  Back when the small mom and pop VHS and Beta rental stores were replaced by the big all-mighty conglomerates, the largest of which was Blockbuster Video.  Can you remember heading out on a Friday night to pickup a movie or two for that evening?  Can you remember the late fees?  Can you imagine doing it now?  Me, I can't.

And that is why Blockbuster Video has declared chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today.  Why would you go pickup a disc and worry about late fees when there is Netflix, on-demand, and even Redbox?  What amazes me is that they are still trying to save it as it currently exists.  I think it is time to say goodbye to Blockbuster and all the video rental stores for good.  Their time has passed.

-Uncle Walter

 

Historic ‘Blockbuster’ Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past

Bye bye Palm

So, as a techie kinda guy, I have had PDAs throughout my life.  My current one is a Blackberry, but back in the day the first one I really used was the 3Com Palm III.  It was a marvel of engineering.  It ran off two AAA batteries, kept my contacts and calendar as well as notes.  I even had a 14.4 modem for it and could do some basic web surfing.  All in all it was pretty cool... but times changed.  The newer Palms really didn't add anything significant to the mix.  Then came along Pocket PCs and the Palm looked weaker and weaker.  The Blackberry went from e-mail tool to a real PDA and the Palm never really improved beyond adding color and some more speed.  The last Palm I worked with was also a cell phone, but it was pale in comparison to what would come next on the scene.

Appearing almost out of left field was the Apple iPhone (who would have expected that after the Newton?).  People were clamoring for one for year, they loved the iPod and wanted more.  But how could Apple compete against Microsoft which had largely failed in the PDA market, Blackberry which was growing and Palm which maintained market share despite their outdated designs.  Well, they did it with such an impressive launch that every PDA/Phone that has followed has copied at least some part of it.  The iPhone was the game changer.  Soon Blackberry came out with the Touch, and Microsoft pushed hard with Windows Mobile 7.  But Palm sat back, and appeared to rest on their laurels.  Occasionally releasing a model that would run Windows Mobile.  They were trying to fit that tight market between the Blackberry and the Microsoft Device, and really weren't doing either well enough.  Finally they got a clue and began development on a new innovation the WebOS.

On January of 2009 the world got to see the WebOS and everyone was impressed.  Would this be the thing to save Palm since it was been failing.  Would this restore faith in the company?  Well, that was the hope.  But it appears that it was too late.  The iPhone 3Gs came out, Windows Mobile 7 is hitting the market, Google has jumped in with Android and the Palm, once the crown jewel of the PDA, was left in the dust.  Today on April 4th 2010 word has come out that Palm is looking to sell itself.  Current suitors are rumored to be HTC (which makes Google's phone) and Lenovo.  

It hurts to see Palm go away, but this is Darwinian economics.  The weaker products that do not adapt either vanish or get absorbed into a larger entity.  The only hope then is that the larger entity doesn't collapse.  (Take a look at Fiat and Chrysler in a few years and you may see that happen)

-Uncle Walter

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Time and a Time of TOO MUCH PINK!

Ok, yes I know breast cancer is bad, and wrong, in fact it is badong.  And I applaud the efforts of those as Susan G. Komen for the Cure who promote it's awareness.  But the pink of overwhelming.  Pink ribbons good, but why is my lint removal roll pink?  Why is my yogurt container pink?  Yes, I know they need to get a message across and all that, and I am very impressed to see a non-profit take ownership of a color.  But, really isn't it a bit much?  I would like to suggest some guidelines.

Pink ribbon is good.  Tells the message simply enough without too much fanfare.

Avon iPod cases.  They are pink.  Yay.  I guess this suggests support for breast cancer stuff, or you really like pink and wanted a pink case.  This is pushing it.

Now this is too much.  Really, what the h*ll does this have to do with breast cancer?  I just don't get it.  They even had to suspend the game because of problems with the pink paint.  Somehow I can't imaging people looking at this people playing hockey on what looks kinda like a bladder form a distance and think, "Hey, lets go support breast cancer research!".

-Uncle Walter

Michael Moore is Annoying

Michael Moore is an odd character.  He has the skills to convey broad concepts tailored to his perspective.  He attacks capitalism, healthcare, and everything that gets in his way.  In Team America: World Police he is referred to as "A Socialist Weasel" by I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. and that is not out of line.  What surprises me is that Moore makes valid points, and is skilled at playing them out on the screen.  The problem is that he picks a side, plays it out, and calls it a truth.  In Sicko we see how bad the US Healthcare system is, but we don't see the positives of the system.  He is infallible in his "documentaries".  That is another problem, they are called documentaries, but they aren't.  They are politically motivated campaigns to push his ideals on whomever will watch. 

Honestly his movies are more like the cheap romance novels I see all too often.  Moore is the hero who has come to enlighten us and save the poor victims.  He will sweep us off our feet and show us there is a better, safer place.  Then he will attack our enemies or friends, or anyone he doesn't agree with.  The only thing missing is the pebbled summits, and trust me I do not want to see his. 

The worst thing about it is that he is so good at conveying messages, too bad all of his are diluted mutated truths.

-Uncle Walter

The Voice of Cleveland from The Cleveland Show is White, What's Wrong With That?

So Family Guy has a new spin off, this time Cleveland has left Quahog, RI and moved to Stoolbend, VA.  He has a new family and a new life.  Seems like a fairly standard type of thing for a spin off, but look out, there is a problem here.  Cleveland is played by this guy, Mike Henry.  Notice something?  Cleveland is black and he is white.  There are blogs out there complaining about this.  My god, how can a black man be portrayed by a white man?  Never mind the fact that Cleveland was a minor character in a canceled animated show, that no one thought would return.  And, when Family Guy came back Cleveland was still a minor character so no one complained.  Now he has his own show and that should change? How absurd, really.  Should I start screening all animated programming to make sure the color of a person matches the color of the character that they portray?  Cleveland isn't being portrayed as a racist stereotype, he is just a character creating a new life after his divorce was finalized and he got re-married.  I just get really annoyed at pointless complaints out there on blogs and such.  Let Cleveland be Cleveland no matter who the voice is behind the curtain.  Besides Bart from the Simpsons is just as insensitive because a woman voices him, yet I don't hear anyone complaining about that.

-Uncle Walter

The Great American Melting Pot

Today I was listening to the iPod with my daughter and the classic Schoolhouse Rock song, Great American Melting Pot came on.  Back in the day when I was in school, we lived in a melting pot.  All cultures joined in to create the American experience, and there was a certain pride in becoming an American.  Today though, it seems that that has changed.  Rather than becoming a part of our society we have created an environment where people do not need to learn the language, or culture.  Instead they import their own culture and fight to preserve it.  I respect other cultures, but I also recognize that you become a part of the culture in which you inhabit.  When we setup laws forcing Spanish, French, German, signs and education in a country where virtually everyone speaks English, we are creating a generation of second class citizens.  How can you expect a child who lives in a group that speaks 100% a language that is not of the land in which they inhabit to succeed when they need English?  Too often I see these fights in the news, like when the sub place in Philly refused to serve people who could not speak enough English to order their food and got sued.  I should have known that there were going to be problems when I was leaving high school and they stopped calling it the Melting Pot and instead a Salad Bowl where cultures exists side by side, but never blend and live in isolated worlds. 

So now we hear that schools should teach in Spanish as well as English, which doesn't help.  ESOL (english as a secondary language) is great, lets help people to be part of our culture or melting pot rather than outsiders who can only get jobs mowing lawns or cleaning houses because they can't speak enough English to fill out a job application.  Don't pander to people who want to be taught in their native tongue.  Do not allow these people to hurt themselves and become second class citizens.

-Uncle Walter

The American Healthcare System Needs Some Serious Help

Long long ago, in the 1920s our modern health care system began to take shape.  Plans were formed linking multiple hospitals together.  "Modern Medicine" was the wave of the future and it would save us all.  Well, not everyone (Uncle Walter would have had another Aunt if "Modern Medicine" hadn't give Grandma so many pain killers in the 1930s that the baby was stillborn).  Time marched on and around 1939 we had HMOs.  The health care insurance system evolved, we gained a bit of Medicare, which was, GOD FORBID, government run health care, yep Socialism!  How horrible, except for all the good it did for the people without insurance, but I am not going to debate medicare, today.

So our health care system evolved like a giant creature.  More and more people got insurance so they could go to the doctor.  Then more and more drug companies made better and better drugs, mostly for people's benefit.  Then the unthinkable happened.  People lived longer.  Strange as it is when people get check-ups and go to the doctor for simple things like cancer, they tend to live longer.  Combined with the baby boom there were more and more people in the health care system.  So doctors had more and more patients, so segmentation by specialty became more and more prominent.  The family doc will take care of you if you have the flu, but if you need to have blood drawn there is a flabotomist.  Yes, I misspelled it, I can't figure that one out. (phlebotomist -- edited to add by The Wife.  Sorry UW, couldn't let that one go).

Anyway there are docs for everything.  From simple to complex.  More and more people made sure that there would be mistakes.  Then you have big lawsuits, then big insurance to insure the doctors, who have to be protected from the insured, fueled by lawyers with lawsuits.  In turn the insurance companies, which keep in mind are for profit organizations, wanted to have less and less sick people.  Makes sense, less sick people, less to pay.  So, some plans say you can't go to a doctor outside of your plan or without talking to the on-call nurse to get pre-approval.  I kid you not, I know someone who had to get pre-approval for an emergency room visit and ended up waiting six hours for the on-call nurse to call back and authorize the visit for a real emergency.

Then you get to the absurdity of the plans themselves.  PacificCare is a good example.  They don't insure high risk professions, like policeman, or firefighter, or air traffic controller.  OK, I don't get the last one.  After that you have the fact that you may be declined for taking certain medications like Zyrtec.  I hope my allergies don't come back under that plan!  And of course the all mighty pre-existing condition!  God forbid you have AIDS, Cancer, Appendicitis (un-operated) - Good thing I didn't have their plan, obesity, acne, and more.  You can even be declined for being an expectant father.  You can read for yourself here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/PacifiCareUnderwriting.pdf.

The whole thing gets crazy and the prices go up while the coverage levels go down.  The insurance companies are at great risk of losing money, hospitals are going broke, general doctors become specialists so they can make more and we have a shortage of generalists.  Not to mention that it costs a bloody fortune to become a doc, and for that you only have to barely pass your classes.  I don't know my doctor's GPA, do you?

So, what the h*ll can we do?  Well, before we revise, change and alter the existing system, we need to know the history and realize the fact that the current system is a result of the natural growth of an economic entity reacting to the environment.  Next we look at the real question, does it work?  Yes, but not all that well.  So now what do we do to fix it?  Damned if I know.  I just complain about this stuff.  Lets hope the politicians are better at fixing this than I am.

-Uncle Walter

Seperate the artist from the art

So with Polanski in the news and other things like it we are once again faced with a dilemma.  Do we boycott the art, because the artist did bad things?  Well Polanski made alot of movies, that got lots of awards.  Should we dodge Rosemary's Baby because Polanski did bad stuff?  What about the Mommas and the Papas?  It just came out that John Phillips has an incestuous affair with his daughter for ten years.  Should I not enjoy Monday, Monday now?  Woody Allen has his own "unique" character flaws (too much of a headache to go into here), does that mean that I should never watch Sleeper again? 

No, it does not.  There is art, and there is the artist.  Hemingway committed suicide, but his books are considered great.  Just because the artist may be a nut job wacko child molester, doesn't mean that the art isn't beautiful.  Now I am not advocating we all go buy movies by perverts, but don't avoid them either.  The works they have created are part of the human experience now and they do allow someone who has hurt many to contribute, in a positive way, to the world.

So, I am still going to enjoy listening to my music from the Mamas and the Papas, and I will watch Bananas, and keep my mind open to enjoy the art that exists.  I will not support these nuts just because they make good art.  They need to pay for their crimes just like anyone else, but I will enjoy what they have made, I will just watch it when it is on cable, I don't think I will buy the DVDs (that does send a buck or two back to them).

-Uncle Walter

Roman Polanski did a bad bad thing

Ok, so I am sure you have all heard the news about Roman Polanski and the rape of a 13 year old and the potential miscarriage of justice, blah blah blah.  Well, I waited a few days before posting so I could read as much as I could about both sides of the story, and now I am ready to present my take on this mess.

1.  Roman Polanski raped a 13 year old girl.  He plied her with liquor and drugs, and then claimed that they were together consensually.  The girl was there as a result of the efforts of her mother trying to push her career.  Her mother should never have allowed that, and not allowed a 13 year old to go off alone in that situation.  Polanski, did a very bad thing, and no matter how old the girl may have looked, it isn't right.  He admitted guilt, he needs punishment.

2.  He setup a plea agreement where there would be no public trial, and he would be charged time served.  From what I have read this was done to protect the victim from a public trial, but it was also the keep him out of jail. 

3.  The judge did not like him and his actions, and wanted to make an example out of him, and indicated he would not honor the agreement.  The result could have been a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.  I can understand Polanski was concerned.  50 years is a long time, and who wants to be made an example of.  He did a very bad thing, and was at risk of long term incarceration for it.

4.  He ran, so far, far away.  To France, which didn't believe that it was a fair trial, because of the judge and basically granted asylum.  From there he continued his career, lived his life, made movies.  The whole time his lawyers were working in the US to try to get the case overturned because of the issues with the judge.  The appeals court said there was merit, and that they would hear the case, however, Polanski had to be present.  He would not come.

5.  In Switzerland he was picked up and should be extradited to the US, but France, Poland and a battery of random celebrities are against this.  Personally I don't know what Woody Allen's opinion has to do with anything in this case, but whatever.  I won't argue that point... for now.

6. What is clear is the following

• Roman Polanski broke the law and raped a little girl.
• The judge was not acting in an impartial way as a judge should and was out to make an example.
• Polanski is a fugitive from the law and has been on the run for 30 years.
• Polanski should go the US and face the courts.  If the case is dropped due to the judge mishandling it, so be it.
• Polanski has to face the punishment for running.  Regardless of what happened to the girl, he still broke the law when he fled the country.  There is a punishment for that, ironically, it may be deportation, so we would just send him back to where he was.

I'm just tired of this whole thing.  I know that it will vanish from the news in a week or two unless something more interesting happens, like Angelina adopting a gaggle of starving kids, or a tsunami, or a light frost.  The media is fickle like that.

-Uncle Walter