Tag: Media

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It’s been with some amusement that I’ve been hearing about the BudLight Boycott.

It’s been characterized as a boycott in many of the media reports.

I think that overstates what’s going on.

A Boycott suggests that there’s an organizing group. Folks with an agenda, newsletter, signs, and protesters.

I think this is far more organic and not organized. I think this is individual people saying they’re tired of a particular aspect of American life and are choosing individually to avoid a product.

I didn’t talk to anyone about my decision to avoid BudLight. Indeed, I was very disappointed to discover that my beloved Corona was owned by Anheuser-Busch. I thought Modello was still an independent company.

It’s not a problem, I like Blue Moon just as well. For me, Corona versus Blue Moon is more often a matter of pricing. Given that I don’t drink a lot of beer I guess it’s a nonissue because a 12 pack lasts me more than a month. I like a beer sometimes with lunch and sometimes it’s nice to have a beer after I’ve been out doing yard work.

Next beer run, I’ll be buying Blue Moon.

I’ve not talked to anyone about boycotting. I don’t much care what other people are doing. I chose to distance myself from Anheuser-Busch because I personally am weary of the Trans Shit.

I’m also weary of corporate America and politicians pandering to the latest fad. The only way to register my annoyance with companies is not to use their products, so Anheuser-Busch, among others, doesn’t get my dollar.

I suspect that the rest of normal folks like me, make similar choices all the time. I know Jewish folks who will not buy BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, or Mercedes. I’d hope you don’t need an explanation, if you do, you can look it up. I also know American folks who will not buy a Japanese car. Neither of these groups are racist, nor are they boycotting, they just have a very long memory, and a plethora of other options.

Where Target is concerned It’s not as easy. I really like the Super Target. I like being able to go one place and get what I need. If I hit the Super Target early enough I don’t even have to deal with a bunch of people. Wouldn’t be surprised to find a lot of people in the same boat.

That being said, I’m planning to give Costco a whirl for groceries this week. The problem is the portion size and subsequent storage of items. I might be back at the Super Target, or I’ll just go to a regular grocery store.

The point is I’m not actively boycotting Target, I’m choosing not to patronize them when / if it’s convenient to do so.

I’m doing that with a lot of products.

I’d bet that from a marketing standpoint that’s a whole lot tougher to deal with, or correct.

How do you combat apathy that is a result of your customer base not being really angry at you, rather they’re just not interested in your virtue signaling, and therefore your company’s products.

Worse, I’d bet that once a corporation has become known for virtue signaling and pandering, they will have a tough time coming back from it. Almost any advertising campaign would be viewed through the same lens.

I recently loaded up on Apple Products. I was replacing worn out devices and preserving a software investment. I actually didn’t enjoy going to the Apple Store.

In the back of my mind was the thought, “I wish Apple would just sell Technology and avoid politics,” And then I was helped by a jittery blue haired young lady who almost scolded me for not making a shopping appointment. It was the epitome of what I found distasteful about putting money in Apple’s pocket.

Will I purchase other Apple Products? Probably. Will I be excited about those purchases? Probably no more than being excited about a visit to the dentist. I’ll have to do it, I know it’s gonna be expensive, and that’s just the way it is. If I’m not the only customer to feel that way, then Apple isn’t going to do much growing.

They’re not the only company who may be facing this kind of issue, but they’re one of the largest and most visible.

NorthFace is another company that is well known but perhaps a bit more niche than Apple. Their most recent ad might have reduced their annual sales for much the same reasons.

Why buy NorthFace which is arguably an expensive brand when you can buy Mountain Hardwear, or Patagonia, or Osprey.

NorthFace is a company that should have put the money they spent on a crappy ad, into improving quality. I had a NorthFace 3 season jacket that was 12 years old. It had held up well but needed to be retired.

I went to a store that handled NorthFace and found that similar jackets were badly made, more expensive, seemed to use cheap materials, (they felt cheap,) the zippers were awful, and were overall less flexible.

I ended up buying 2 Costco jackets for a total of $40 that have taken the place of the 3 season I had.

The pity is I’d gone back to a store explicitly to purchase another NorthFace 3 season jacket.

When I bought my jacket I paid something like $400 for it and didn’t blink. The quality was great and the versatility was worth every penny. I even bought another one for my other half.

I’m not boycotting NorthFace, I just won’t look at their products. That shitty ad with a genderfuck drag queen did nothing but fully take NorthFace off my radar. If that ad turned me off what did it do to the rest of America?

I don’t really think there is any boycott against any company in particular. I think it’s just an overall tiredness of average everyday folks with everything woke.

Honestly, this whole woke thing might be finally coming to an end. If it is, good riddance to bad rubbish.

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I think it’s only me…

I keep catching articles or snippets of news, and thinking that I’m losing what’s left of my mind.

What’s weird and making me think I’m losing my mind is that, apparently nobody else thinks anything is amiss. Meanwhile my head is exploding and all I can think to do is run screaming into the wilderness.

For example:

There was a shooting in Louisville KY at a bank. An NPR report says, it appears that the shooting started in a conference room. There’s a lot of the other usual “guns bad” rhetoric and there there’s the obligatory doctors comment. In other words, the report was really “Boilerplate”.

What caught my attention was that the reporter speaks of psychological issues and how perhaps red flag laws are necessary everywhere. Then the reporter introduces the Doctor to make comments as an Osteopathic physician.

That’s when my brain said, “WAIT Just A DANG MINUTE!!!”

What the hell?

My first thought based on the word Osteopathic was, “A bone specialist”. My second thought was, “Why is a bone specialist commenting on a clearly psychological issue?” My next thought was, “Clearly I’ve misremembered the definition, I should look it up.”

For context, here’s the way stuff like this is stored in my head.

For clarity, I’ll use a common word. We know that osteoporosis is degeneration of the bones often attributed to aging.

Osteo – Greek for bone.

Porosis –  a condition (as of a bone) characterized by porosity

So osteoporosis literally means porous bones.

The word Pathic – perceiving, suffering, or affected in a (specified) way.

(As an aside this one is odd because there was one dictionary that said this word was either a homosexual bottom, or a catamite. These are not the definitions I was taught and means that I must carefully evaluate context if I see this word in the “wild” so to speak.)

Therefore you would expect for an Osteopath to study bones and the conditions or diseases that affect them.

OR I suppose you could use the odd dictionary (American Heritage online, by the way) and you’d come up with someone who has sex with bones????

If that’s not weird enough… Hang on, because this is where things get really weird.

The American Osteopathic Association website says something a bit different when defining what a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine is. The definition isn’t simple, it’s actually kind of a word salad and takes a whole lot more linguistic processing power to process than it should. A word that is a Title should be very clear in my opinion.

Here is the answer to What is a DO?

Short answer, these guys probably started out as Chiropractors and / or Massage Therapists. Both of which, have their place but neither of which I want doing a psychological assessment on me.

In either case, if the Osteopathic Doctor actually studied and was licensed to treat diseases of bones, OR if they’re Chiropractors & Massage Therapists, they’re not qualified to speak on issues of psychology.

Personally, I like the clarity of Cardiologist, Psychologist, Ophthalmologist, Endocrinologist, etc. See the pattern? You’re looking at compound words. The Ologist says study of, and the word preceding it, says what’s being studied.

I’m sorry it took such a long way to get around to the point.

The problem is that when you have some knowledge of what words mean, or worse yet, that so many of our common words have roots in ancient languages and their root meanings, prefixes, and suffixes, are rattling around in your head, it’s maddening.

If you’re at all like me, you find your brain being rebooted all the time because you take the word apart and know what something is. Or at least what it’s supposed to be.

Except NOW the word may, or may not, mean what you thought it did regardless of the common root word, or even the long accepted definition.

Which is why I keep thinking I’m losing my mind.

I have a fairly decent vocabulary, so when I’m listening to, or reading something, I’m getting meaning transferred to me by the specific words being used, and apply a certain level of precision based on the definitions stored in my head.

When those words suddenly lead me off into the weeds, off the rails, or down the rabbit hole, because contextually they don’t appear to have the meaning stored in my brain I start to ask questions.

One of those questions is; “Did I just have a stroke?”

Then I realize that in the case of the NPR piece, they wanted the gravitas of a “medical professional” making comments.

The best they could come up with was a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.

Either the reporter didn’t know what that meant or didn’t care, and assumed that the majority of the American public wouldn’t know or care that the “Doctor” speaking was completely outside their lane.

One of my very best friends is a real “Doctor”. He legitimately holds a Phd. while he is very intelligent, and can speak eloquently on 18th century English Literature, I wouldn’t want him performing heart surgery on me or anyone else.

However, my friend could as legitimately spoken about the shooter in Louisville as the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine on NPR.

With my friend, at least you wouldn’t have to process through a word salad that Kamala Harris couldn’t get through, to find out he’s not really qualified to speak on matters of Psychology.

The problem is that when words don’t have precise meaning then the point, or message those words were trying to convey is muddy at best.

I suppose what caused me to write this insane rabbit hole is that I frequently wonder why it is that I don’t understand what people are saying. I hear or read the words but the meaning is unclear.

Right now, on my desk is a form that says, “In addition to completing form XXX-YYY, please also supply the following documents if the following box is checked.”

Okay, none of the boxes are checked. So I shouldn’t have to supply those documents.

Except that’s not the case. It turns out they do want one of the documents, and according to the person I spoke with, they always want that particular document.

The organization could save themselves a lot of phone calls and unnecessary mail by simply being clear. Either always check the box next to that document, OR reword the instructions.

When I spoke with the representative after submitting the form, and the organization bouncing it back twice, they treated me like a moron because I’d followed their instructions precisely.

I first started noticing this lack of clarity many years ago. I thought it was the world that was the problem. It was little things at first and I was convinced I was right…

Now I question my rightness because the rest of the world seems to be getting along just fine with blurry meaning, poorly written instructions, and misleading reports about the news of the day.

If the rest of the world sees no problem, then the problem must be mine alone.

I wonder, should I see a psychologist, psychiatrist, or would an osteopathic doctor due just as well. I’ve been described by some as bone headed…

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Random Stuff

Power is off, The electric company is replacing poles and lines that were burned in the fire.

Looks like it’s going to be a long outage. On the plus side we had internet for about 12 hours! Whoo Hooo. With the power down, now we don’t.

I’ve still got 5G on the phone. That’s a serious improvement from the 1 bar of LTE that I’ve had since Saturday.

Saw an article in Apple News this morning, about a pet store in Thousand Oaks, CA where the owner has made addendum to their pet adoption policy. Part of the adoption questionnaire asks about gun ownership, gun control, membership in the NRA etc. They will refuse to allow you to adopt a pet if you don’t agree with their views on the matter.

They go so far as to say if you’re a member of the NRA and lie to us on this form we’ll prosecute you for fraud. Because we will find out…

That seems a bit improbable, but whatever.

I applaud the owner for taking a stand. I think it’s partially incorrect, especially the part about the NRA. Then again that organization has been demonized for so long, then plagued with their own scandals… I supposed it makes sense that a liberal couldn’t help but see the NRA as a boogyman.

It will be interesting to see if the owner’s stance has any impact on their business, positive or negative.

I think they may find that their traffic will drop because some folks, regardless of their gun ownership or views on gun control, will look at these rules as an infringement on their privacy. That alone may be enough to drive business away. There are a lot of shelters, and breeders to select from.

Inadvertently this pet adoption place may add to the number of pets that eventually need homes if folks go the breeder route.

Nonetheless, This business owner’s policy is clearly stated and they have the right to refuse to do business with anyone they choose. (Unless it’s a member of some specially protected group.) It’s probably a good thing they’re a pet adoption business not a baker of wedding cakes…

So I support their right. I also compliment them on putting their money where their mouth is.

The insanity over the FedEx package that’s missing continues.

Yesterday I spoke with someone who seemed to think I should go back to the store where I handed the package to a person acting as their agent, who scanned the package while I watched, and start searching the place.

Frankly this rebooted my brain. This FedEx corporate moron was suggesting that I essentially perform an illegal search of a place of business where I was not an employee, nor was I law enforcement, nor was I that business owner.

When I asked the person very specifically if that was what he was suggesting he decided to back down on that completely unreasonable request.

I’m still blown away that a FedEx corporate employee would tell a customer that, the Customer should go search the premises of one of their Agent locations.

This however is demonstrative of the lack of training on the part of FedEx and may provide insight into why FedEx has become so damn unreliable.

I wonder if that’s why there are so many private bonded carriers operating in LA, Orange County, and San Diego. I was surprised recently when some documents were delivered to me via courier instead of UPS or FedEx. It was pleasant but the first time that’s happened.

I’ve got the BMW… Perhaps I could get a nice tailored suit and become “The Transporter” What are the rules? “No Names, Never open the package,” seems pretty easy to me. Gas prices on the other hand… hmmm.

Speaking of gas prices. I paid 6.79 a gallon recently. Amazing! Not in a good way. The only reason I’m not bitching up a storm about it, is that It had been more than a month since I’d last purchased gas. I figured, ehh, if I amortize it over the time since I last filled up it’s a big deal, but not world ending.

I was tinkering with going on a road trip just to blow the cobwebs out of the car and my brain. But I’m thinking that would be excessively extravagant.

I’d still like to do a road trip. I suppose if I drove straight to the California border then filled up in another state a road trip might be more reasonable.

I caught another article on Apple News I think it was originally printed in The Wall Street Journal, (I’m not too sure about that,) that reported a record number of Californians were taking up residence in Mexico. Apparently, the real estate market south of the border is booming.

Some of the reasons cited were, lower cost of living, lower cost of real estate, lower gas prices, lower food prices, and better quality of life.

One person interviewed for the article said that his family had saved 50% per month on their living expenses from their previous living arrangements in California.

He still commutes to San Diego daily for work, but in terms of better quality of life for his family, he said it was a reasonable trade off.

I’ll admit that when I first moved to San Diego, I considered renting a place south of the border. At the time I could have gotten a 2 bedroom 1 bath condo for $800 a month. The place was 2nd floor, 4 blocks from the beach, you could even see the ocean from the lanai.

Instead I settled for a 1 bedroom 1 bath for $1500 a month in Escondido. It was a choice that was about avoiding San Diego traffic. Had I done the Mexico condo, I’d have to drive through the nightmare of downtown San Diego morning and evening. In the end, I worked a goofy schedule which would have made the Mexico option viable… But that’s another story entirely.

In a twist of unintended irony. The article mentioned that with so many Californians going south of the border. It was pricing Mexican citizens out of the housing market and contributing to rising prices in other things.

Free market capitalism can be a stone bitch! I suppose the Mexican government hasn’t gone “Woke” yet and started regulating for the greater good.

For shits and giggles, I watched Atlas Shrugged I, II, & III last night. These movies are adaptations of Ayn Rand’s book of the same title. The production quality is good. The disconnect with different actors playing the key parts is a bit disconcerting moving from one movie to the other but it’s easy to get over. I prefer Grant Bowler’s portrayal of Hank Reardon over the other two actors. Not that the other actors didn’t do good jobs with the character, I simply liked Bowler the best.

I know, there are lots of people who say that Atlas Shrugged is a Republican propaganda piece and that it has no merit in today’s world. Blah Blah Blah.

To them I’d say, “Turn off your bias, read the book or watch the movies and then tell me you don’t see some parallels between what happened in the story and what our government is becoming.”

Lots of regulation, ever expanding government, lofty idealistically admirable yet unachievable goals, do nothing committees, hearings which produce nothing and go nowhere, politicians making decisions without due consideration of the effects those decisions will have. Shaming of the wealthy for their achievements, etc. etc. etc.

I’ve read some biographical information about Ayn Rand, in some cases it’s said she was just writing fiction. In other cases it’s said she based the fiction of Atlas Shrugged on things she remembered from her childhood in Russia. Still other say she was prescient.

I don’t know which, if any of these conclusions are true. What I do see is, at best life is imitating art. At worst whatever madness led Russia to communism and all the horrors that we now know happened in soviet Russia, may well have taken hold in American politics.

Perhaps it was never a matter of IF it could happen, instead it was only a matter of When.

I know I’d like to be spirited away to “Atlantis”, by someone like John Gault.