Stories I Noticed This Week

All via Current

Taxpayers forced to pay for neo-Nazi's daily makeover
Paying $150 / day to cover up his tattoos. My first reaction was this is absurd. He got the tattoos, he should live with his tattoos. Or he --- not the taxpayers --- should pay the $150/day to clean himself up. Then I read some of the comments about potential for a biased trial. I suppose there is some sense in that, but again, if he made those changes to his appearance on his own, isn't he responsible for the 'better or worse' that comes with those decisions? In my opinion, the most sensible comment on this was from liveBK who noted, "by this logic the jury and judge should never see the defendant". Interesting, and why not? If the Lady Justice's blindfold is meant to represent true impartiality, maybe juries and judges shouldn't see defendants.

Pepsi Sponsors Anti-Gay Concert In Uganda
Not good news for Pepsi. Saw one comment suggesting Pepsi's record of supporting LGBT issues is otherwise fairly strong. That may be so, but it is kind of ugly to be trying to do business in a country where the prevailing values are apparently so extreme (a new proposal before the Ugandan Parliament assigns a death sentence for certain homosexual "crimes" and outlaws all advocacy or defense of LGBT people with a punishment of seven years imprisonment). Where do you draw the line?

Finally, the Huffington Post story about the bigoted mayor of Arlington, Tennessee.
Upset that President Obama's speech was preempting Charlie Brown's Christmas, he unleashed a foolish rant that exposed him as a small minded clown.

In his words:

Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim [sic] president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation [sic] about it....w...hen the answer should simply be 'yes'....you obama [sic] people need to move to a muslim [sic] country," ... "you know, our forefathers had it written in the original Constitution that ONLY property owners could vote, if that has stayed in there, things would be different........

Hearing that an ironically named Russell Wiseman, mayor of some small time town in Tennessee, was expressing ignorant and intolerant views did not come as a huge surprise to me. But it was somewhat surprising to see that said mayor is apparently NOT a crusty good ol' boy. (Good ol' boy, maybe, but not yet too crusty. At least not outwardly crusty.) From his Mayor's Welcome page he looks to be, what, early 30s? I guess old racists were once young racists. But I thought / hoped that some generational evolution in attitudes was taking place, even in Arlington, TN.

So, to recap just the few things I have noticed over the past couple of months, there was the Louisiana justice of the peace, the Mississippi school district and the fact that the Secret Service won't take Michele Obama to South Carolina. And, for fun, I'll throw in a favorite from last year's Red States, Blue States, Fat States, Dumb States ... post:

Another Funny Target Women: Jewelry

"Jewelry face is the ultimate goal of jewelry. It says 'I'm touched' or 'I love you back' or 'I guess we'll be having the sex now'".

Little Monster Man

Cleaning up emails / procrastinating and found a classic: "Little Monster Man"

H1N1: To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate?

Had a couple of conversations about swine flu this week (ok, H1N1). After having my crazy bout of illness after Labor Day, I've felt that was my close call this season. Totally irrational belief, but that's where my head's been at. But this week's discussions, including the imminent availability of the vaccine at my wife's school, have led me to reconsider. And for me, that means a bit of research.

* Vaccination is 1,000 times less likely to be harmful than getting the flu itself

If I'm correctly interpreting the info below, excerpted from an Examiner article, then the odds are 1,000 times greater for having a problem w/ the H1N1 than they are of having a problem with a flu vaccine. Comparison isn't perfect (using 1976 flu vaccine complications as a basis), but directionally useful, in my opinion.


How safe is it? For many people, particularly parents, this is the big question. A great deal of concern stems from vaccinations given in 1976. Of 40 million doses given, 400 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (a syndrome involving creeping paralysis, often permanent) were reported. The cases were never absolutely linked to vaccination and it's never happened again. Researchers are keeping a close eye on this batch of vaccines. According to Bruce Gellin, director of the national vaccine program, of the10 million doses administered by late October, not one resulted in side effects more serious than soreness at the injection site or stomach aches. When weighing the pros and cons of vaccinating yourself or your child, keep in mind the facts. We know at least 1% of those infected by H1N1 will become seriously ill and may require long-term care. Meanwhile, if Guillain-Barre is a true risk of innoculation, that risk is 0.001% and, as yet, no side effects have surfaced. Also, single-dose vaccines do not contain any mercury-based preservatives. If you're still concerned (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with placing a lot of thought into this decision), talk to a health professional. You can also check out the national vaccine reporting system, by visiting VAERS' website:vaers.hhs.gov/index.


Couple of additional reference links:

- WebMD- Is the H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine Safe?

- CDC Vaccine Q&A

Stories I Noticed This Week

Spending some time this morning catching up on this week's RSS feeds and a few things caught my eye:

Via Current:

An intolerance theme runs through a few of this week's items.

* Death threats about an advertisement

Have to agree with the observation of Shawn Jeffers: "Everything that has happened shows just how vital our message is. It proves our point, that bigotry against people who don't believe in a god is still very real in America".

Some recent pro-atheism activity has been a bit confrontational and I could see how that might irk sensitive and righteous believers. (See this Boston campaign and this one in London.) But this particular billboard was not of that kind whatsoever. And regardless, is this a good precedent to set? Don't like a message? Lob in a death threat. Slippery slope from here to a theistic state
(See this if you're looking for clues on how to spot an atheist)

* Arkansas 10-year old protests pledge of allegiance in school

My first reaction is to admire his courage. My second reaction is to hope he's not being used as a pawn to further his parents' agenda. Great thing to raise an open minded kid. Awful thing to manipulate your kid and insert him into charged topics that are sure to draw backlash from the closed minded and cruel. Nice story if it's not contrived.

* Tragic story about an 'honor killing' in Arizona

How many more generations of evolution will it take to unwind prehistoric views like these?

* Good riddance to this guy

* How representative are our representatives?

According to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics, members of congress are 44 times more likely to be millionaires than are Americans at large.

The magnitude of this variance surprised me a bit, so I looked for further context and in my search found Net Worth and Assets of Households: 2002 (note: previous link is to a pdf file; this will take you to a top level page from the Census Bureau.)

Lot of interesting data in that report, but the point I'll pull out here is that in 2002 the median household net worth was a bit less than $60,000. To roughly adjust that figure to be more compatible with the figures from the CRP report, we can consider that the S&P is up ~20% since the end of 2002 and median home prices are up ~12% (home price sources: 2002 and 2009 ; S&P source: pull a Yahoo! chart). If we approximately split the difference and adjust up median household net worth by ~15% and use $70,000 (to keep the numbers round and easy), then here are the top line comparisons for the average American and his/her Congressperson or Senator:

Median net worth, member of Congress: $622,254
Median net worth (est), Average American: $70,000
Difference: ~9x

Median net worth, Senator: $1.79 million
Median net worth (est), Average American: $70,000
Difference: ~25x

Also, the median net worth of the wealthiest 20% of Americans was ~$189K in 2002. Apply the ~15% adjustment and that becomes ~$215K in 2008. So even among the richest fifth of Americans you're still looking at differences of greater than 3x (Congress) and 8x (Senate).

Makes you think just a little bit about the merits of campaign spending and campaign fund raising being a matter of free speech, no?

* There was some good news

But it was from Scandinavia. Another check in the 'pros' column for living in Sweden.

"Merchant Database Compromise" - Not Something You Want to See

Logged into my Citibank account and was greeted with this. Awesome.

Links I Noticed This Morning

Spending some time this morning catching up on recent weeks' RSS feeds and a few things caught my eye:

Via Current:
* the refreshing story of Myron Rolle
* the sad story about South Carolina being unsafe for Michele Obama
* another example of backwards Mississippi thinking
* another example of why I wish Al Franken was my Senator or that Alan Grayson was my rep
* banks - you can't bitch about government regulation if you're going to pull crap like this
* mind boggling story about an inexplicably soft sentence

My 1 hour Comcast Customer Service Live Chat Transcript

Last night I unexpectedly spent an HOUR with Comcast customer service chat. Unbelievable. Full transcript of the experience below. Not great times.


user art_ has entered room
art>
site not recognizing my username, so i cannot sign into my account online
analyst Franz has entered room
Franz>
Hello art_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Franz. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Franz>
Thank you for contacting Comcast. I am very happy to assist you!
Franz>
I would be happy to assist you with that. Please be assured that I will do everything I can to help you with your concern.
Franz>
In order for me to help you with your concern, allow me to pull up your account. May I have your account number?
art_>
well, that's what i'm trying to get to, franz
art_>
but i cannot sign into my account
art_>
and i do not see an option to recover username or password
art_>
my username has always been my email address
art_>
i'm not sure why it's not working now
Franz>
I will provide you the login again
art_>
great
Franz>
May I have the last four digits of the socials registered in the account?
art_>
XXXX
Franz>
Thank you.
Franz>
Please allow me a moment
Franz>
I'm still working on it. Please allow me another moment.
art_>
ok
Franz>
Thank you.
Franz>
May i know what error message you encounter art?
art_>
sure - let me try to log in again and i'll let you know
Franz>
Thank you.
Franz>
Take your time.
art_>
missing or invalid information - username not found
Franz>
I apologize for the inconvenience.
Franz>
I will need to transfer you to our Internet department to reset this for you since I got an error here on my end okay?
art_>
ok - so what do i do? stay here and someone else will jump in?
Franz>
That is correct
art_>
ok
Franz>
Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst
analyst Maria has entered room
Maria >
How are you doing today?
analyst Franz has left room
Maria >
Hi there, Art.
Maria >
How can I brighten up your day?
art_>
hi
art_>
do you not have the history of this chat?
art_>
i cannot log in to my account online
art_>
site is telling me my username is not recognized
Maria >
I am checking on it now. Thank you for that, Art.
art_>
thank you
Maria >
You are much welcome! I understand that you are having issues with your email login. I am more than willing to assist you with your concern.
Maria >
Before we proceed, can you please provide the following information to secure the privacy of your account.
-full account number
-last four digits of your social
art_>
i cannot get you my account number b/c i cannot login to my account
art_>
but the ss# is XXXX
Maria >
That is fine, Art. Thank you for that information.
Maria >
Is it okay if I reset a password for you?
art_>
sure
Maria >
Cool! Thank you.
Maria >
Art, may I know the name of the account please.
art_>
i'm not sure what you mean by 'name' of the account
Maria >
May I know who is the holder for this account? Or to whom was it named?
art_>
should be me, art sindlinger
Maria >
I see. Please give me one moment while I pull up the account for you.
Maria >
Will that be okay?
art_>
ok
Maria >
Cool! Thank you.
Maria >
Thank you for patiently waiting, Art.
Maria >
May I know what username are you having troubles with?
art_>
sindlinger@gmail.com
Maria >
I see. Thank you for that, Art.
Maria >
May I know what services do you have from Cocmast please?
Maria >
Comcast I mean.
art_>
i have digital cable
art_>
have had it for a few years now
art_>
am trying to upgrade to triple play
art_>
so i'm a hot lead here
art_>
but i can't log into my account
Maria >
Thank you, Art. May I know what site are you having troubles with logging on to your email account?
art_>
https://www.comcast.com/Customers/CustomerCentral.cspx
Maria >
Wow! That is great, Art. We really appreciate your loyalty for our sevices.
Maria >
About your email login, there is no available username and password since you are subscribed for our cable service. In order for you to have an email account, we need first to subscribe to our internet service.
art_>
argh. really? i've been trying to login to the wrong site?
art_>
where do i login to my cable account?
Maria >
Yes, Art. If you are subscribed with our internet service, you need to login to comcast.net for you to access your email.
art_>
i am not trying to access my email
art_>
i don't have email with you, at least not that i care about
art_>
i am trying to login and manage my cable account
Maria >
With your existing email address, you need to log on to gmail.com for you to be able to access it.
art_>
?
art_>
i'm not sure i understand you
art_>
this is what i'm trying to do
art_>
i receive my 'comcast statement ready for viewing' emails from you
art_>
it includes this link
art_>
http://www.comcast.com/payonline
art_>
that prompts me for my username, which is my email address
art_>
i enter my email address and get the 'missing or invalid information' message
Maria >
I see. Thank you for that information, Art. Let me check the details for that. Please give me one moment to do it. Thank you.
Maria >
Thank you for patiently waiting, Art.
Maria >
About your issue, can you please type comcast.com on your address bar.
art_>
ok
Maria >
Good! Then, look for CREATE ACCOUNT located at the upper portion of that page beside SIGN IN.
art_>
ok. but i have an account, don't i?
Maria >
Yes, Art. You already have a cable account with us but with email, you need to subscribe first with our internet service.
art_>
i don't understand.
art_>
i registered my account with comcast.com 11/14/2004
Maria >
Yes, Art.
Maria >
I can also see that here on my end.
Maria >
Do not worry, your cable account is existing and we have a record of your service.
Maria >
Have you created an account in comcast.com, Art?
Maria >
We need to do that for you to be able to pay your bills online.
art_>
what?
art_>
you're really losing me now
Maria >
I am sorry about that, Art. Can you please look for CREATE ACCOUNT on that page beside SIGN IN.
art_>
what do you think i have been asking about for the past 45 minutes
art_>
i have an account
art_>
i have been paying my bill online for 5 years
art_>
that is the account i am trying to log into
art_>
but your system is not recognizing me today
Maria >
Okay. I do apologize about that, Art.
art_>
and i can't believe after 45 minutes in this chat you guys still do not apparently know what i am even asking about
art_>
this is nuts
Maria >
I sincerely apologize for that, Art.
art_>
at this point i'm honestly not very interested in apologies
art_>
i am interested in accessing my account
Maria >
Yes, Art. Can we please try logging on to your account this time with my assistance.
Maria >
Just click SIGN IN.
art_>
ok
Maria >
Thank you. Can you please use your username and password.
art_>
do you know what the sign in experience looks like
Maria >
Just sindlinger,do not include @gmail.com. Thank you.
Maria >
Yes, Art.
art_>
same error message
Maria >
May I know what error message are you receiving please?
art_>
it is the same error message
art_>
art_(Mon Oct 26 2009 22:02:51 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>
i enter my email address and get the 'missing or invalid information' message
Maria >
I see. Is it okay if I try it here on my end, Art?
art_>
sure
Maria >
Thank you. Can you please provide me your username and password, Art.
art_>
are you serious
Maria >
For me to check the problem Art, I need to try it here on my end so that we will be able to solve your issue with your login. Rest assured that you login is secured. But, if you have doubts about it, it is fine with me.
art_>
maria, i think you have entirely missed the point of why i initiated this chat session
art_>
i have given you what i know to be my username
art_>
and i have told you that the system doesn't recognize me
art_>
and i have asked if there is some way to reset my password, like EVERY OTHER online service out there
art_>
the ol' 'forgot your username or password' link
art_>
which apparently does not exist on comcast.com
art_>
and apparently live support is not able to help either
art_>
this is absolutely crazy
Maria >
Okay, Art. I do apologize again. I will give you the link for you to change your password. Please give me one moment.
Maria >
I am really sorry if I messed up with your issue. I do apologize about that. Please calm down so that I can provide you the necessary remedies for you to login to your account.
art_>
maria - i have been asking about a simple issue for an hour. please do not tell me to calm down. if you can provide the link you reference, we can both go on with our lives. thanks.
Maria >
I will, Art. About your current account that you've been using for 4 years already, I can see here that it you need to register again for you to be able to login to your account. The error you received was caused by the merging of comcast.com and comcast.net sites.
Maria >
What we can do now is to create an account with the same email address that you have for you to access your account.
Maria >
Will that be okay, Art?
art_>
sure
Maria >
Thank you.
Maria >
Can you please click CREATE ACCOUNT in comcast.com, Art.
art_>
ok
Maria >
Please inform me if you are able to register successfully.
art_>
maria, i do not have my account number.
art_>
it's in my account info online
Maria >
I can provide you with that, Art.
art_>
great
Maria >
Here is your account number: XXXXX
Maria >
Thank you.
Maria >
Please inform me if you are able to create an account successfully, Art. Thank you.
art_>
looks like i'm in
art_>
Maria >
That is great, Art! Good job.
art_>
really wish we could have gotten to this point 40 minutes ago
Maria >
I am really sorry of what happened earlier.

Lookalikes: Nouriel Roubini and Linus Van Pelt

Not sure why this hasn't occurred to me before. I've certainly seen Roubini (aka, Dr. Doom) enough on CNBC. But the light bulb went off this morning.

It's not just the resemblance (the gourd-like head shape, the unkempt hair) -- Roubini and Linus also share a reputation for doing their fair share of pontificating. Which is one reason I found it surprising to learn that Roubini is apparently such a player.


Image credits:
Invertia, Green Retirement, RGE Monitor, 9timezones, NY Daily News, The Press Posted in the Tribune Times, Clarification,

You Should Check Out the Intelligence Squared Debate Series on Bloomberg

Read about Intelligence Squared in a recent NYTimes article and coincidentally caught a broadcast of it last night on Bloomberg. Wasn't bad. I won't kid myself and suggest (or hope) that this will have any huge influence on the rest of TV news coverage of important issues, but it's a nice alternative nonetheless. I hope they keep it going.

By the way, my personal boycott of CNN / Fox News / MSNBC is somewhere past a month now. Maybe longer. Feels great, too.

Charting the S&P 500 & GDP Growth

Yesterday I took a look at the relationship between the S&P 500 and the unemployment rate. This morning I wanted to look at how the S&P and GDP figures align (or don't align) over the years. Again, I didn't quickly find the charts I was looking for, so I created my own.

Using S&P data from Yahoo! Finance and GDP data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, I looked at two things:

- Plotting same year S&P 500 growth and GDP change
- Plotting current year S&P growth and next year's GDP change

I guess the difference here is whether you think the market is reflecting current mood / environment or is it anticipating what lies ahead. It's probably some combination of both. How's that for illuminating and actionable insight?

Some stats here that I perhaps knew but never quite processed fully until looking at this is how the years after big drops really do snap back.

1974: down 29.7%
1975: up 31.5%

2002: down 23.4%
2003: up 26.4%

2008: down 38.5%
2009 YTD: up 18.3%

Again, these charts will be most legible if you hit the "full" setting in the player below.

S&P 500 + Gdp 1970 2009

View more presentations from sindlinger.

Charting the S&P 500 & Unemployment Rate: 1980 - 2009

This is what I did with my Saturday.

Hearing both a lot of debate about the merits / feasibility of a "jobless recovery" and chatter on CNBC about people feeling anxious regarding the sustainability of the stock market's ongoing rally, I wanted to look at a correlation between unemployment rates and the S&P 500 over the past big unemployment spikes / recessions. But I could not quickly find any charts making this connection. So, with historical S&P data from Yahoo! Finance and unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, I put together my own chart, which is embedded below.

The only way it will be remotely legible is if you hit the "full" setting on the slideshow player. You can also download it, too. I've spent more time putting it together than analyzing it, but here is what I'm seeing at first glance:

- The early 80s period and the early 90s period are rather similar
- The degree of the moves in the early 00s period are substantially greater than the two earlier periods
- In all three of the prior periods, the Low (L) in the S&P was seen before the Peak (P) of that period's unemployment rate.
- After the Peak (P), the S&P didn't really dip back to test the lows much

We've seen a pretty dramatic recent low in the S&P (March '09) and unemployment seems to be nearing a peak / plateau period. Does this bode well for the S&P in the near term and intermediate future?

Charting the S&P 500's monthly close & Unemployment Rates: 1980 - 2009

View more presentations from sindlinger.

Update:
I'm also including a base version of the chart without all my add ons.

Charts S&P500 And Monthly Unemployment Rate Blank

View more presentations from sindlinger.

24 Hours in Utah for a World Cup Qualifier

While I would have preferred to check the Costa Rica game in DC, squeezing a recreational Wednesday night trip into the work schedule is tough. So if I wanted to see a qualifier, Sandy, UT on 9/5 was my best shot.

View from the SLC airport was about what you would expect, I guess. Kinda brown, kinda mountainy.



After checking into the Hotel Monaco and dropping our bags we still had ~4 hours until kickoff. So we wandered out and soon found the Red Rock Brewery. Our criteria were beer, food and some TVs. Check.


A Blonde Ale


Prosciutto wrapped caprese salad


Dude with a pretty unfortunate hair style

Pre-game was successful, now it was time for the game. Asked for a cab at the Monaco, wound up in a van with Chafer, who became our handler for the rest of the day.



Trip to the stadium was relatively quick, leaving time to roam about, survey the tailgating scene and try to offload the extra pair of tickets I had purchased thinking for sure I'd be able to flip them and cover the weekend's beer expenses with the proceeds.

Not quite.

Rio Tinto Stadium holds 20,000 for soccer. Announced attendance at the game was 19,000 but it looked like less than that actually showed up. And at least one third of the crowd was wearing the royal blue of El Salvador. Net: not the best environment for trying to sell extra tickets. But during our stroll we were approached by a woman brandishing a turkey baster who offered us a "gin shot that tastes like lemonade". Would have been rude to refuse such a hospitable offer. And it did somewhat soften the blow of eating the cost of those extra seats.

Fortified, we headed in.



Took me a few shots to realize that the camera on my phone was on the low quality / low res setting. Sweet.



Nice place to see a game. Just too bad the SLC metropolis couldn't come support the squad.



These guys were representing, though.



Our seats were decent, a few rows behind the El Salvador bench.



Could have done without the super enthusiastic high school soccer player behind us shouting out "MAN ON!" and "WATCH THE SWITCH!" and "COME ON BECKERMAN, THIS ISN'T MLS, SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU GOT!". But the view was solid.

Place emptied out quick enough.



So it was time to meet our man Chafer for the ride back to the Monaco.

And there he is.


I actually took a more in-focus version of this, but honestly, this one is probably an appropriate representation of how things were feeling.

Chafer was solid. On time and had the cooler stocked with Coors Banquet, as we requested. At least, as we requested once we were advised that our choices were pretty much mainstream domestics. When in Utah, do as the Utahans do.



So we asked Chafer for some nightlife suggestions. He offered a few, but the first one we got to was Lumpy's.



Standard pool table scene downstairs. Not so standard bar service. Bartender had to ask his colleague what a Black Russian was. Should have aborted the order right there.



After a few unimpressive games we ventured upstairs, which turned out to be the right move.



All the TVs you could possibly want.



Just skip the mixed drinks and stick with beer.



Think I stopped taking pictures at this point. Until I got to the airport and saw this evidence that some Utahans do indeed have a sense of humor.