I taught myself a pretty lucrative trick this Christmas shopping season. When you buy something online, before you check out, do a Google search for “Name of the Retailer You’re Shopping At” “Offer Codes.” Yeah, I saved a ton of money and got a ton of free shipping that way this year. Is it cheating? Nah.

Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait until after Christmas to tell you which retailers I successfully pulled this off at - since certain readers would be able to guess their presents. I assure you, however, that it worked at 100% of the places that I have purchased products from online.

You’re welcome.

I’m impressed. From an e-mail:

Nov. 29, 2007

Statement from UW-Milwaukee Administration:

UWM Union Modifies Policy
on Speaker Security Charges

From the beginning of our planning for the Dec. 4 appearance of Walid Shoebat at the UW-Milwaukee Union, campus officials have been most concerned with the safety of students and the others who will be coming to our university to attend the event. A safety plan for the event was created by the Division of Student Affairs after reviewing the experiences of other universities where Mr. Shoebat appeared. The cost for the required additional security services was based on a fee-recovery program developed by UWM Union officials over the summer.

It has become clear, however, that the additional security expenses have been perceived by some as a means to discourage speakers from visiting the UWM campus. Simply stated, that is not the case. UWM is committed to its long-standing practice of welcoming and encouraging discussion and debate of all issues no matter how controversial.

To ensure that the UWM Union remains a place where ideas are freely exchanged, the Union will explore other methods to recover such expenses. As a result of this policy change, the Union is cancelling the additional security charges that were to have been applied to next Tuesday’s Shoebat speech sponsored by the Conservative Union and to a forum on the same day sponsored by the Muslim Student Association.

Throughout its history, UWM has kept its doors open to people expressing a myriad of perspectives. A particularly significant example was the Nov. 23, 1965, appearance of Martin Luther King, Jr. at UWM, which required extraordinary safety measures. In the following years, the university has welcomed numerous speakers who represented many perspectives. We will continue to do so in order to preserve and protect the right to free speech and, when necessary, we will take precautions to ensure the safety of all involved.

I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of this video until today! Check out the grape lady, as she cheats, falls, hurts herself, and makes a complete ass out of herself all over the globe! Thank you, Internet! You are the great karmic equalizer!!!

This made me laugh!

“My Zamboni, my beautiful Zamboni… You’ll pay, Pale Force… you’ll pay in Canadian currency when the exchange rate is at its weakest.”

~(some Canadian chick) on Pale Force

You can watch the whole cartoon on NBC.com if you’d like.

Good night. That’s all I’ve got for the day.

You would have thought that his chest would have been more resilient to abuse after years and years of puff-puff-give.

From SI.com:

The Miami Dolphins running back will miss the rest of the season with a torn chest muscle, according to his agent, Leigh Steinberg.

Williams was hurt Monday at Pittsburgh, when he played in his first game in nearly two years. He returned following a 1 1/2 -year suspension for his latest violation of the NFL drug policy.

Steinberg said the arm will be in a sling from four to six weeks and the rehab will take five months.

But Steinberg said Williams expects to be ready for next season.

Ricky said, “Rehab??? Here we go again…” (insert laugh track).

My school, UW-Milwaukee, is hosting former terrorist, Walid Shoebat, as he explains why terrorism is bad and why Muslims shouldn’t hate Jews. The Muslim Student Association is protesting the event stating, “if the UWM council doesn’t cancel the event, we will protest.” (source: 620 WTMJ) 

I’ll just say it… I actually feel threatened by the MSA’s remarks. It’s a sad state of affairs for an entire population when one hears “muslims” and “protests” and immediately thinks, “bombs.” The MSA isn’t doing anything to deminish those fears by protesting an event stating why people shouldn’t engage in terrorism.

Luckily for us, UWM will probably cave and not host the event.

…would that mean that the terrorists win?

From CNN.com

Soldiers manning a checkpoint near Baghdad stopped a wedding convoy to find that the purported bride and groom were wanted terror suspects, an Iraqi Defense Ministry official said Monday.

How honorable! I hope these pictures get circulated throughout the world, as I am sure disguising yourself as a woman is not considered honorable by most militant Islam radicals.

Now, everyone point and laugh at these clowns!

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled onto a website where people post pictures of their Lego building feats…and found Miller Park.

  

Equipped with a moving roof, the 300 Club, TGI Fridays, Dugouts, etc.

PS. Dog, stop salivating and get back to work.

I wonder what Owen and Jed think about this:

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman was hired as Texas A&M’s coach Monday, three days after Dennis Franchione resigned.

Sherman’s current job is as the Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator under Gary Kubiak, a former quarterback and assistant for the Aggies.

Sherman was A&M’s offensive line coach from 1989-93 and then in 1995-96 under R.C Slocum.

Franchione took a contract buyout and stepped down Friday, less than an hour after Texas A&M upset Texas 38-30. Defensive coordinator Gary Darnell was named interim coach Saturday and will lead the Aggies (7-5, 4-4 Big 12) in a bowl game.

I found this ad on WalMart.com to be pretty misleading:

Uhm, I’m pretty sure you can’t get an iPod Nano for $24.53.  I know it says, “from $24.53,” but they should have a photo of the $24.53 mp3 player, then. That’s just my theory.

Black Friday wasn’t all that dark. Nobody got shot while trying to pilfer a parking spot. There were no cat fights over the last pair of XL begonia bloomers (though I did try to convince Tracy to start one of those kinds of fights just for effect). And, while there were some places that had obviously been picked pretty clean, the selection of items available between about 12:30PM and 4:30PM was still pretty good. I got a ton of my shopping done, and had a great time just taking in the experience. I kinda wish I would have had to break up a fight or two… between women shopping for this awesome puppy handbag (left, $50) at Boston Store.
Do you women seriously buy stuff like that?  Oh, you must, it’s sold out at BostonStore.com. I’ll have to go back for one of those when Tracy isn’t with me.  Merry Christmas!!!

I guess it’s better than Black Tuesday?

If you’re going to do any shopping online, might I suggest shopping at Amazon.com? They’re deals are going on from 8am till 8pm, which is great since you don’t have to get up super early… unless, of course, you live on the west coast. Oh, and if you click on this link - Amazon.com Black Friday Deals - then I’ll get a little commission off of your sale. Yes, it’s shameless, but I’m a single dad and full-time student… consider clicking through my link your little Christmas gift to me.

Just wanted to say, “Happy Thanksgiving,” everybody. Now go stuff yourselves!

Note to BD: Your Lions are going DOWN!!!!! Go PACKERS!!!

Almost 2 years later…it’s still hilarious 

I don’t know what eeeeediot decided that 5:30PM on Thanksgiving Eve would be a great time for an International Financial Management midterm, but somebody did… and that’s what my mind will be focused on today. Hopefully I’ll remember how to conduct a forward hedge, a money-market hedge, an options hedge, a cross hedge, and a hedge through invoice currency. That’s just one chapter of craptacular knowledge that I need to have committed to memory. I also get to measure economic/operating exposure, financially hedge operating exposure, measure liquidity and market concentration, cross list, discuss the concept of American Depository Receipts, gains from international diversification, and a whole bunch more of the most tedious, mind-numbing bits of education that I have ever endured.

I’d seriously rather be writing a research paper right now.

Congratulations. If you have made it to this point in the post, you have just read the most boring thing I’ve ever written. Ick.

The media has a raging hard on for the recent FBI “findings” that hate crimes have jumped 8%. Not taken into account in this survey, the number of “hate crimes” that weren’t being recorded as “hate crimes” before the phrase became a favorite of the talking heads. So, are there actually MORE hate crimes, or are there more REPORTS of hate crimes. The world may never know.

If you had doubts that some of the national media was in bed with the terrorists, this should set your mind straight… at least a little bit.

From CNN:

The U.S. military says it has “convincing and irrefutable” evidence that an award-winning Associated Press photographer is connected to the insurgency in Iraq.

The photographer, Bilal Hussein Zaidon, faces charges in the Iraqi Central Court based on the evidence, Pentagon officials said Monday.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell and other U.S. military officials would not say directly what charges he faced. They referred reporters to the Iraqi court system.

Hussein, an Iraqi who lives in the western Anbar province city of Ramadi, has been held without charge by the U.S. military since April 2006, when bomb parts and insurgent propaganda were found in his house after the U.S. military asked to use it as an observation post during an operation.

Hussein was already under suspicion by the U.S. military because he arrived at terrorist attack sites so quickly that they suspected he had advance knowledge of attacks, according to Morrell.

Emphasis mine. This sickens me.

If misery loves company, misery has company enough.

~Henry David Thoreau

On my way to pick up my daughter from daycare, yesterday, I stopped at the gas station to fill up. The lady at the pump across from me was putting gas in her Infinity. She had a little boy in the car who was about two years old. After she got done pumping her gas she did the dumbest thing. She went into the gas station WITHOUT HER KID! I was appalled. So, even though I was finished pumping my gas (I always pay at the pump), I stayed in my car and watched her car to make sure that nobody ran off with the little boy. I also timed her. She didn’t just run in and pay for gas. She got milk and some other crap, too. It took her THREE MINUTES AND THIRTY SECONDS. Perhaps I should have said something when she came out, but I didn’t, I just drove off disgusted.