I'm not sure it rises to treason, but it appears to at least warrant a closer look as a possibly criminal act.

It's been a long time since I bothered to write any new first epinions, but the truly awful service I've been receiveing from Home Annex lead to write the following epinion about Home Annex.

The executive summary -- It sucks to deal with, it ships slowly (if at all), but it has great prices. Oh, it also seems to artificially bump up its own epionions rating by creating a mulitude of one-time-use UserID's for the sole purpose of giving perfect reviews to itself.

Cunningham Pleads Guilty in House Sale Probe

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned from Congress Monday after pleading guilty in a San Diego federal court to accepting bribes and violating tax laws in the sale of his home two years ago to a defense contractor.
...
In announcing the plea, prosecutors in San Diego said over four years, Cunningham accepted bribes worth $2.4 million in return for special treatment and government defense contracts worth tens of millions of dollars.

It is "clear from the facts that this was a crime of magnificent and extraordinary audacity," said U.S. Attorney Carol Lam.

The case started earlier this year when Cunningham and his wife, Nancy, were accused of using the proceeds from the $1,675,000 sale of his home in Del Mar home to buy a $2.55 million mansion in ritzy Rancho Santa Fe. Cunningham then had the capital gains tax on the property paid by his conspirators.

Though no others were named, in prior reporting, defense contractor Mitchell Wade was said to have bought the Del Mar, and then sold it nearly a year later for a loss of $700,000.

This is essentially the same methodology used to funnel money to John Rowland (disgraced & convicted former governor of Connecticut) when he sold the condo he kept in D.C. when he was a mere Congressman. Rowland sold the condo for far more than it was worth to a purchaser who then sold it for a loss, essentially an attempt to hide bribery as a portion of a more sizable transaction.

Had I a lot more energy & free time, it would be a truly interesting project to look at the past 20 years of real estate sales made by Reps & Senators to see how much the following sale of the same house/condo decreased in value.

If I was in the market for a sporty little car right now, it'd be hard to ignore the marketing tactic that Chrysler is trying by offering a deal on Crossfire's through Overstock.com.

Reason #1412 that I'm glad I moved out of Maryland: Editorial complaining that illegal aliens are having to wait too long to get their drivers' licenses.

 
After quite a while since the last few designs I've had that generated traditional media coverage, (RatherGate, CityOfEvil, We'll Kick Your Ass) another one of my designs has had an article written about it.

The bad publicity Elk Mountain Motors had hoped to suppress with a lawsuit instead has made its way to bumper stickers, coffee mugs and boxer shorts.

The Glenwood Springs auto dealership sued former customer Seth Turok last October in Pitkin County District Court, because of a sign the Aspen resident posted on the Audi A6 he bought from the dealer in 2000.

To Elk Mountain's chagrin, the sign said, "Friends don't let friends shop at Elk Mtn. Motors." As a result, Elk Mountain slapped Turok with a lawsuit, claiming that the sign is damaging its reputation and that Turok is committing libel and slander.

...

One online retailer, CafePress.com, has posted a medley of offerings bearing the slogan of sorts that sparked the lawsuit. Among the items are T-shirts of many varieties, including pink tank-tops for women, sleeveless T-shirts for men, and baby doll shirts for the little one. Turok said he did not contact CafePress.com to post the slogan. An e-mail message sent to the purveyor of the merchandise seeking comment was not returned. [Actually I did answer, but apparently my email wound up in a junk folder somewhere. -- TC]

There are also boxer shorts, coffee mugs, bibs, hats and bags on the CafePress.com Web site - all with the message: "Friends don't let friends shop at Elk Mountain Motors."

Even the name of their company cracks me up.

"South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have signed a three-year production deal with Paramount Pictures, which released their most recent film, the 2004 puppet comedy "Team America: World Police."

The acerbic pair, best known for mocking pop culture icons, will need extra large business cards because they named their new banner Trunity, a Mediar company, a division of True Mediar, a Unity Corpbopoly.

An good, albeit old, joke.  

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose woman for the last three weekends."

Father Donavon asks: "Is that you, little Tommy Shaughnessy?"

"Yes, Father, 'tis I."

"And who was the woman you were with?"

"Sure and I can't be tellin' you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation."

Well, Tommy, I'm sure to find out sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now.

Was it Brenda O'Malley?"

"I cannot say Father, please."

"Was it Patricia Kelly?"

"I'll never tell."

"Was it Brydie Shannon?"

"I'm sorry, but I will not! name her."

"Was it Mary Catherine Morgan?"

"My lips are sealed, Father."

"Was it Fiona McDonald then?"

"Please, Father, I cannot tell you."

The priest sighs in frustration.

"You're a steadfast lad Tommy Shaughnessy, and I admire that, but you've sinned and now you must atone. You cannot attend church for three months. Be off with you now."

Tommy walks back to his pew.

His friend Sean slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"

"Three month's vacation and five good leads."

(Found transcribed here.)

 
Great Moments In Espionage: Valerie Plame Infiltrates Al Qaeda

 
I think that someday there will be a post-mortem of Maglite that tries to figure out why it never bothered to introduce a line of LED lamped flashlights. It has what is likely the strongest brand name for flashlights in the U.S. market, yet it has failed now for years to offer any products that use solid state lighting.

Its reluctance to offer at least some product using modern technolgoy borders on religious zeal.

Very strange.