The Indianapolis 500...A True Spectacle

Dario Franchitti won the Indy 500...congrats, I guess. They call the Indy 500 "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." I have to agree with this claim...no where on earth will you see more people make a spectacle of themselves...well, maybe with the exception of spring break.;) If you have ever been to the infield on race day I am sure you will concur.

I have to wonder at the wisdom of such an event. A lot of fans travel a great distance to see the drivers go NOWHERE. They sit for several hours to see the drivers compete to see who can go in a circle and wind up where they started the fastest. It is estimated that about 400,000 people attend the race...to see 33 cars driven to death for no reason. If each person uses 10 gallons of gas to get to the track...(probably a conservative estimate) that would be 4,000,000 gallons of fuel burned (producing tons of pollution)...not counting the fuel spent to run the cars in the race and the motors and parts that are totally worn out during the race (not to mention all the resources used up during the month preceding the race) In a nation at war over oil (and that is really what the war is all about) I wonder if the few hours of entertainment are worth the price. Global warming is becoming a noticable issue. Someday I wonder if our future generations will look back upon such waste and cry.

--The Clever Cynic, http://theclevercynic.blogspot.com/

E-mail: the_clever_cynic@yahoo.com

This is the Most Sexist Nonsense Ever

<--since this guy is male apparently he can't buy a box of cereal?

I was reading an article entitled, "Help! Grocery store still overwhelming to men" (sic... yeah they really don't know how to capitalize...sigh) I f they had written this article about women...say at the hardware store, all hell would break loose. Why do men put up with this sexist crap?

I can't imagine that a grocery store is that hard to use for the average guy. I go to the store all the time...I manage to find what I need. They have HUGE signs over every isle...to show you where to go. Is the navigation system that hard to master? I am guessing they are referring to the "whipped" types who normally are left home by the wife and suddenly she gets a bug somewhere to send the poor sot to the store (probably for tampons ...no wonder he can't find them);).

This part of the article is CLASSIC:

"One guy I thought was going to have a nervous breakdown in the cereal aisle,"
Putnam said, adding that this man, in his early 30s, worked the night shift as a
police officer in a dicey part of town and was otherwise used to stressful
situations. " (the guy can dodge bullets and polices gangs, yet he can't pick out a box of Cheerios?)

So what is their wonderful solution to this problem?:

"One example of a tool to help with efficiency is the Shopping Buddy, a wireless computer on shopping carts at Ahold NV's Stop & Shop stores in the Northeast that alerts shoppers to certain items they might want, among other features, using information from shopper loyalty cards, consultants said."

Oh I can just imagine the shopping buddy in action. ATTENTION...ATTENTION MALE FOOL...PIZZA AND BEER ON ISLE FIVE. Seriously, it is about time men stopped putting up with such patronizing nonsense.

--The Clever Cynic, http://theclevercynic.blogspot.com/

E-mail: the_clever_cynic@yahoo.com

One Thing Highly Effective People Do Not Do...

I had a boss one time...(that was my first mistake...;) ) She had to be the most-inept person on this planet...but that didnt' actually hurt anything it made me very powerful. ;) Well, one day I want in her office and she was reclining...pretty much like the woman in the graphic. Well, except the woman in the graphic probably did some work in the past decade.

On her desk was a book...."The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," by Stephen R. Covey. Now I am not saying that this isn't a fine book...in fact it is quite good...in fact, it wouldn't hurt to read it.

Being the type who notices things, I noticed the book on her desk and said, "no highly-effective person on earth has that book on their desk...the minute someone sees it they think you are inept and need help, which hardly makes you more effective." (You can see how much power I had siphoned at this point due to her ineptness that I got away with saying stuff like that). So I guess my point is:...self-help books are great, but to be read in private. And also don't be weak or seen as weak because that makes you a target for people to steal your power.;)

--The Clever Cynic, http://theclevercynic.blogspot.com/

E-mail: the_clever_cynic@yahoo.com

The Real Reason for the War In Iraq

I read today in an article on MSN that gas wasn't expensive enough yet and I have read it before in previous articles. The experts claim that if gas were four dollars a gallon...perhaps raised to that level by additional taxation on top of inflated war prices...that it would finally be at a price level that would allow Americans to survive on thier own oil production, without relying on the Middle East for oil. (I would cite the URL for the article but it is just plain ridiculous...sigh)

The fact is that it would force poor Americans to do without gasoline while for the rich the cost of the gas for their Mercedes would be fairly immaterial. The sad fact is that Americans won't learn unless they are hit in the pocketbooks. Apparently enough people simply don't care that periodically we have to fight wars to stabilize governments that we are dependant upon for oil. I guess they figure...what are a few lives lost as long as I get to drive my Hummer? Besides without wars there wouldn't have BEEN a Hummer...right? Excellent reasoning...sigh.

--The Clever Cynic, http://theclevercynic.blogspot.com/
E-mail: the_clever_cynic@yahoo.com