Reallly, Really, Really Dumb Rant For Today

I often bitch about American advertisers and their sleazy marketing techniques. One consistent thing about marketers is their contempt for the intelligence of the average consumer. In fact, the entire American Marketing process is very much based on the ignorance of the customer base. That being said I'll launch into my rant for today.

Last week Mrs Greasywrench brought home a container of my favorite Dreyers "Peanut Butter Cup" Ice Cream. Since Summer finally arrived here in the Los Angeles area this month (so much for Global Warming) I had the urge for some Ice Cream. After only a couple of bowls of the Dreyers I noticed the container was half empty. WTF! I'm the only one who eats this flavor so I couldn't figure it out. Then I noticed the container was no longer the familiar one half gallon size. They're now one and one half quarts.

I immediately went on the Internet and did a google search and low and behold Dreyers has been doing this for some time. Lots of people have been bitching about this sneaky move by Dreyers. First they downsized the containers to 1.75 quarts and now they're 1.5 quarts. Of course this was done by Dreyers surreptitiously (Surprise).

Being the confrontational fellow I am, I immediately sought out the Dreyers website and fired off a flame to the Suits in charge. Their reply is below. I'm not sure if I read this response correctly but it appears the idiots at Dreyers are claiming the downsized containers doesn't really count as a price increase. What's the latest catch-phrase making the rounds on the web - "don't piss on me and tell me it's raining". Well, as far as I'm concerned the knuckleheads at Dreyers just took a huge leak and aimed it directly at my head.

Only in America would a company make a rationalization this fucking stupid and expect someone to swallow (pun intended) their ridiculous logic. The Dreyers response is below.....

"Dear Mr. Greasywrench, (name changed to protect the innocent)
Thank you for taking the time to email our company about our

new 1.5 quart carton. Let me tell you why we made the difficult

decision to change the size of our carton.

The cost of all dairy products has increased enormously over

the past few years, as have the costs of the sweeteners, nuts,

fruits and energy used to make our ice cream. Our ingredient

costs have risen by 30 to 60% over this time, but the average

price of ice cream has not really changed much.

We considered raising our prices to cover these costs, but at

some point, it just doesn't make sense to raise prices too high.

We suspect very few families would want to pay $7 or $8 for

a carton of ice cream. So as you know, we opted to drop the

size of our carton from 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts.

Dreyer's has been making ice cream since 1928. We hope we've

earned your trust over the years. Thank you for being so passionate

about our ice cream and for taking the time to contact us. We hope

you'll continue to invite our products into your home."

Sincerely,

Denise Hanson

Consumer Response Representative

Ref # N2252974

The lack of respect they (Dreyers) have for the American consumer is stunning. Now where's the Baskin Robbins?

Fresh Screed From Marxine Waters!

Marxine is bloviating again. Now she's calling on the Thought Police to "probe" opposing views. From The Hill.com comes this story.

Waters: Probe 'birthers and the teabaggers' at rallies for racist views
By Michael O'Brien - 09/16/09 12:10 PM ET

The media should investigate the racial views of conservative activists like the ones who descended on Washington last weekend, one liberal congresswoman said Wednesday.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said that it's not enough for African-Americans to levy allegations of racism against the right-leaning protesters, and that the media must look into their views."I want those people talked to; I want them interviewed," Waters told the liberal Bill Press Radio show in a podcast. "I want journalists to be all over those rallies and the marches with the birthers and the teabaggers."

"What I'm looking for is the very people who carry the signs who are referring to the policies in very, very strange ways like 'Obamacare' and 'Barry Obamacare with Kennedy,'" she said. "What I've been interested in is hearing from those people that everybody's referring to -- everybody on the Mall, in the rally."

I wonder if anyone in the Lame Stream Media has the guts to ask Marxine to define what she means by a "probe". Does she mean a few simple questions or could it be a political version of "waterboarding". Enquiring minds want to know. The scary thing here is Marxine wants people "probed" because they have the nerve to disagree with her - not because they've broken any laws or engaged in any type of civil disobedience. And yet she has tossed around the word Mcarthyism in the past with reckless abandon.

BTW, the word "probed" brings to mind a visit to the Proctologist, a large gloved hand, and a jar of Vaseline. I wonder how that would work for Marxine? Come to think of it, it might be just what she needs/wants. Now bend over and grab those rather ample cheeks Marxine. Let's see if you enjoy being "probed".

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the First Ammendment is to protect all speech - even unpopular and (according to Marxine) racist views, no matter how ugly they may be. When Hollywood was busy stroking itself about the movie "The People Vs. Larry Flynt" that was exactly the very point they were making. I guess free and unpopular speech is only worth protecting when it comes from the left.

Marxine Waters - the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you Marxine for providing the Conservative bloggers of America with such a rich and endless source of material.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/59015-waters-media-must-investigate-right-wing-protesters-for-racism

RIP Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze died of Pancreatic Cancer today at the age of 57. Patrick starred in one of my all time favorite movies - Red Dawn. Red Dawn was one of the few films in the last couple of generations to portray the U.S.A. as the good guys in a world of many dangers. Hollywood could take a few lessons on patriotism from the Director of Red Dawn, John Milius who also directed another favorite of mine - Big Wednesday.

Patrick Swayze was also the star of The Outsiders, Point Break, Ghost, Dirty Dancing and many other big Hollywood hits. Ironically, Patrick may well be best remembered for the Saturday Night Live clip he did when he danced off against Chris Farley while auditioning for a Chippendale's job. It was hilarious.

RIP Patrick Swayze. I thoroughly enjoyed your movies and will miss your many varied performances.

Marxine "Neanderthal" Waters Does It Again!

Well Marxine Waters has spewed out another gem. During last night's Obama speech on health care she reacted to Joe Wilson's "liar" comment on Obama. She actually had the balls to say "It was just something that nobody had ever witnessed before. We all felt embarrassed." I have a news flash for Marxine Waters - this HAS been witnessed before.

Excuse me Marxine but you aren't/weren't embarrassed by Charlie Rangel or William Jefferson and their creative accounting. Let's throw in William Jefferson Clinton for good measure while we're at it. Clinton getting gobbled in the Oval Office by an intern (sexual harrasment?) didn't seem to offend you. Neither did Clinton's lying to Congress and witholding evidence. Then again, while a Democrat gets a free pass, you refer to Republicans as Neanderthals - hence the morph gif on the upper left.

Marxine Waters and her double standard...
Were you embarrassed by the Los Angeles rioters in 1992? No you weren't. You actually called their actions "righteous" and referred to the riots as "rebellions" and "uprisings". Being embarrassed by the actions of murderers and thieves is not on your list. It's a ship that has already sailed. But then again the rebels and murderers composed a large part of your constituency. I guess you didn't want to piss off the voters in your district - right Marxine? I suppose one could say you're the Left Coast version of the RevRearend Al Sharpton.

Marxine - You are one of the major embarrassments in Congress with your ignorant statements to Oil Company Executives and your support of Communists such as the Castro Brothers. The next time you go to Cuba to grovel at the feet of Dictators do the U.S.A. a favor and don't come back. You can be very easily replaced. Remember, far left politicians are like dog shit in Kalifornia - they're on every corner.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090910/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_health_care_heckling

Van Jones - Becked Or Borked?

It's official. Van Jones has resigned from his Green Jobs Czar position. I used the term Borked in reference to the tactics the Democrats used on Robert Bork in 1987 during the confirmation hearings for his SCOTUS (unconfirmed) seat. The term Borked has become a verb in American lexicon. I suggest a new entry - Becked, in honor of radio and Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck bit into Van Jones and held on like a Pit Bull until Jones was forced to resign his Green Jobs Czar position. And how did Glenn Beck accomplish this? He merely used Mr Jones own words and deeds. Mr Jones blamed his troubles on a "smear campaign" but the truth and the racist garbage emanating from Van Jones himself were his undoing.

Kind of off-topic but check out the clever little video below. To the older generation it may bring back a few memories of an old TV show - Dragnet.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090906/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_adviser_resigns

You Can't Make This Shit Up!

I ran across this article this morning while browsing Yahoo. Have we become this fucking stupid when it comes to common sense? This is breathtakingly ignorant! One would expect to see something like this in a Monty Python sketch.... not in real life.

"No thumbprint, no money, bank tells armless man...

MIAMI (Reuters) – A bank in Florida refused to cash a check for an armless man because he could not provide a thumbprint.

"They looked at my prosthetic hands and the teller said, 'Well, obviously you can't give us a thumbprint'," Steve Valdez told CNN on Wednesday.

But he said the Bank of America Corp branch in downtown Tampa, Florida, still insisted on a thumbprint identification for him to cash a check drawn on his wife's account at the bank, even though he showed them two photo IDs.

In the incident last week, a bank supervisor told Valdez he could only cash the check without a thumbprint if he brought his wife in with him or he opened an account with them.

"I told them I neither wanted an account with them and couldn't bring my wife in because she was nowhere close by," Valdez told CNN.

Bank of America said in a statement cited by CNN: "While the thumbprint is a requirement for those who don't have accounts, the bank should have made accommodations."

Valdez said his treatment by the bank violated the U.S. Americans with Disability Act requiring institutions to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled persons."

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; editing by Todd Eastham)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090903/us_nm/us_bank_thumbprint