Not only did the MailScanner detect a possible fraud attempt, but so did my BullShit Detector. I love these stupid scams and wonder how anyone could possible fall for one.
First clue, this is the IRS, the GOVERNMENT saying it is willing to give you back some money. They only do that begrudgingly when they have to because you are trying to get your money from them. The GOVERNMENT never volunteers the information that it has your money. The GOVERNMENT never says, "Hey, guess what? We found some of your money you overpaid us and we thought you might like it back." No. They keep it and spend it on voter fraud.
While the government has no problem with the high volume of welfare and social security checks it cuts, here the "IRS" is claiming the high volume of refunds is overwhelming them. So fill out the form by following the link that takes you to a web address at 0ax8.0xbb5ce5, where ever the hell that is. Oh. That's the place they phish your information. They require the complete form showing your full current details.
I'm having a hard time believing that you can't just call up the IRS and inquire about any money they may owe you. Oh, wait. Yes I can. Never mind. But still, they would have a phone number you could call to get the runaround.
If the IRS can find my email address, they can find my street address. I bet they can find that on the last tax form we sent in. I'm sure the ol' IRS can punch my cheery name into their computer and up will pop my address. If the IRS owns me any money, I don't expect to get an email. I expect to get a check in mail with a note. And a Christmas card.
And really, these idiots are trying to pass this off as an official IRS notice with such poor punctuation and grammar (not to mention English) and a misspelling? Yeah, right. They need a Broken English to English translator.
I've been in the receiving end of an IRS/Gov'ment screw-up. Once they sent my tax refund check without my full address. So the check went to the post office, and because I never showed up at the PO to claim my check, because I was not told it was there, the check was sent back to the IRS/Gov'ment until I called to inquire just where the hell it was. Me and the first wife had some beer to buy, dammit. Well, the check had to be reissued and it must have been nearly six months from the time we sent in the tax forms until we got our check. The government was in no hurry whatsoever to get our money to us. But if we owed them . . . better fess with the cash pronto or go to jail.
I don't normally don't write crap like this, but yesterday I read a blog where the author whined about bullies, and over the weekend my wife views a video on YouTube about bullies, so I thought I would offer my observation on this time honored phenomenon.
I was bullied. My wife was bullied. My children have been and will be again bullied. My mom was bullied. My dad was bullied. So too my brother and sister. You've been bullied too. We all get bullied. To top it off, I've bullied. I've bullied the younger kids on the street. I've bullied my sister.
We aren't going to get rid of bullying by building up some social awareness. We all know it happens, so what's the point? Conflict is an essential part of humanity. Every book and every movie revolves around conflict. Conflict is good. Conflict is a challenge for us to overcome. What's the famous quote? "That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger." I thank my school-time bullies. They made me stronger. I endured their torment, and I like who I am because of it.
Children are hardwired to bully--and I question the maturity of adults who bully. Children retain an animal urge to prey upon the weak. Children create amongst themselves primitive social hierarchies and leadership is established through dominance. They are uncivilized little wild animals that we parents are in the process of domesticating.
Being bullied can screw with you, but only if you think of yourself as a victim. I stopped victimizing myself when I came to realize two important things: the bullying had no meaning other than what I ascribed it, and it was my fault the whole time. In other words, I was picked on solely because I was weak, and I was weak because I chose to be. I overcame this torment by taking responsibility of my life. I let them bully me. I didn't have too. I could have overcome the challenge and popped a few people in the nose. It would have gotten me in trouble (and as a child I was more fearful of that than anything) but it would have been worth the respect I would have earned. Case in point: I became friends with a kid (a bigger one than me) in the neighborhood by initiating a fight in defense of the hut me and my friends built in the woods. He whipped my ass, but later he said he gained respect for me because I stood up for myself. And an ass whooping is not a hard thing to endure to gain a friend, and a little self esteem. (The city later bulldozed that hut flat and covered it up; it was in a dry creak bed. They put a building there. I haven't been able to sit idle for such a grievous attack by superior forces and have been planning an assault for some time.)
Taking responsibility for my own life and the things I let happen to me was a Godsend. I shoved a weight off my shoulders, one I myself decided to carry. Doing so was part of the process of changing my worldview.
Bullies. Thanks. Couldn't have done it without you.
In a wild and expected game of blame shift, President Obama reasoned that the Democrats have a huge chanced of getting pummeled this election cycle not because of his and his Party's policies, but because
"Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now, and facts and science and argument do not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we're hard-wired not to always think clearly when we're scared. And the country is scared."
Please. We are not scared. We are angry. There is a difference. People who are scared wring their hands and hide. People who are angry get up and do something.
The country is pissed, Mr President. Pissed. And thinking clearly. You don't win popularity by insulting those whose votes you need to further your political career.
Yep, every year the wife asks me the dreaded question: "What do you want for Christmas?"
My response comes in three flavors: "I never really think about it." "I don't know." And, "Nothing cheap."
This is about that "Nothing cheap" answer.
Let's start with Guitars. You can never have too many guitars. And cheap guitars under $500 don't last as long as one would like. Which happens to be forever.
For $2,099.99 I can get my grubby hands this, an American Deluxe Strat.
by Fender.
I'm willing to knock of a thousand smackers for an American Special Strat.
But since its a Wish List and all, I'm not dropping below a grand.
And there are plenty of gorgeous Gibson SGs to chose from. Hmm, what to pick, what to pick . . . HA! a pun. Unintentional on this stream of thought post.
This SG Standard is only running for $1,799. I would look gorgeous under the Christmas Tree with the lights sparkling off its finish. I'm in love with the mere thought of it.
The B. C. Rich Warlock. Simply because it's evil. And the cheapest. They don't even list the prices at the official website, and Musician's Friend has them knocked down from $755.00 to $499.99.
While we are at it, why don't we throw in a Gretsch White Falcon? It's MSRP is only a paltry $4,425. Musician's Friend has them for only $3,099.00. Cheap!
On to Amps.
This is what I have, A Crate FlexWave 120/212 Combo amp. Not a bad little bugger, certainly loud. But since I'm wishing and all, it could go sit in the corner and collect dust and mice nests in lieu of . . .
. . . a Mesa Boogie Mark V head, for $1999 at Sweetwater Music Instruments and Pro Audio, to sit upon a Mesa Boogie . . .
. . . 4 x 12 Rectifier Standard Slant Cabinet. I can feel the blood running out by ears. Humberbucker Music has them priced at $949.
But if I want to go the next level and have my head explode and spray the white walls of the living room with my gore, I'll need something from Krank.
A Krankenstein + head, for $1,699, and . . .
. . . a Krankenstein cab, for only a mere $999. Awesome.
I don't have to have a Marshall stack do I? Everybody seems to have one.
Effects?
A Dunlop Crybaby Wah pedal, runs about $70.
You know, I really just wanted it for the name; so I could tell the guys at work I had a Big Muff, but looking at the website, its been a staple of rock music pretty much like the Crybaby. Up around $120.
Vox ToneLab ST. This is what I wanted but settled for the Digitech RP255. The Digitech isn't bad by no means, but you have to cycle through push buttons to do any editing, unless you use the X-Edit 2 software and change setting from the computer. Look at those selector knobs on that ToneLab, for immediate editing of tone and sound. Just reach down and turn and tune. Looks like it can actually be stepped on and take a beating. And it has VACUUM TUBES, man! In the neighborhood of $275 to $200.
And because I'm a Do-It-Yourself kind of guy and am growing weary of the drum beat samples of my Digitech processors and my Yamaha keyboard, I need a drum set. This Roland TD-4SX sells for only $1,399 at Musician's Friend. Of course I would also have to purchase accessories for it, like a seat, a kick pedal, and a monitor amp.
Oh, and this Wacom pad for some serious art doing. Just $1,899.
This isn't too much to ask for, is it? In all seriousness, these are the things I do want, though I don't really need the White Falcon, and can do with only one Stratocaster. So the totals with the Gretsch and the Deluxe Strat are $18,487.99, a thousand less substituting the Special Strat, and $14,062.99 without the Falcon, a thousand less for the Special Strat. So, if anyone has 15 to 20 thousand dollars just laying around unused, pretty please.
Some water bottles now feature smaller caps to have a less impact on the environment, at the cost of choking children, if the warning label is to be believed.
And I believe them! But I'm also asked to make a difference by recycling. But if I'm recycling the plastic bottle, cap and all, then how big an impact on the environment is the cap causing?
Or the bottle? Or is recycling a fraud, and the bottles are discarded anyway, hence a need for less plastic?
Hey, I have an idea! How 'bout we switch to glass bottles and metal caps? Glass is made of silicon and if its ground up fine enough, it's almost sand again. And metal rusts and is absorbed back in the environment. Awesome! What was the reason we switched to plastic anyway?
