THIS

Netflix is upping it’s subscription prices by 60%. No matter what I decide to do I’ll be paying more for less content. It seems Hollywood’s biggest movie studios were unhappy with Netflix’s pricing. They seem to believe their content is undervalued. I’d respectfully like to ask the studio that put out Transformers what a steaming pile of crap is worth, but I digress. My current bill of almost $10 is going up almost $6, that’s 60% more for the same product. I love Netflix and will be heartbroken when I do but I will cancel my subscription. Last November Netflix raised their prices by $1, now less than a year later I’ll be paying almost $7 more than what I signed up for and getting the exact same product. I’m not sure how Netflix thinks this benefits me as a consumer but whatever it is they are mistaken. Hollywood would do well to remember how poorly people looked upon the record industry as CD prices went up and up and up. I haven’t bought a physical CD or whole album on iTunes in I don’t know how long. On August 31 I’ll cancel my Netflix account because I cannot justify paying an additional $6 for the exact some product. Times are tough and Netflix you don’t make the cut in terms of my limited disposable income.

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THAT

Romance Novels Promote Risk Behavior — or they don’t

I saw this in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning. An essay written by Susan Quilliam, a sexologist was recently published in a British medical journal. In it she claims (cut and pasted directly from the Inquirer’s website)  “a huge number of issues” that she and others see in clinics and therapy rooms can be traced to the influence of romantic fiction, where emotional decisions regularly trump rational ones.

Seriously? Do they honestly believe grown adults cannot discern fantasy from reality? Do they honestly believe adults are making sexual health decisions from scenes they read in romance novels?

Have we really come to this? What happened to good common sense and independent thinking? I don’t want to live in a society where we have to be cautioned against reading romance novels lest we be swept away by lust and have unprotected sex. If my fellow humans can’t control themselves after a reading a book for heaven’s sake I certainly don’t want them watching violent action movies.

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THE OTHER THING

President Obama Cannot Guarantee Social Security Checks

President Obama says that if the debt ceiling issue is not resolved by August 2nd he cannot guarantee that the 70 million social security (all twenty billion dollars worth), veterans’, and disability checks will go out as scheduled the next day on August 3rd.

I think if an agreement cannot be reached and 70 million people suddenly find they have no source of income until the millionaires in D.C. can take their collective heads out of their collective asses then I say we need to find a lawyer file to a lawsuit to ensure that the president, the west wing staff and all of congress also do not get paid.

According to the conservatives government handouts make people lazy so let’s see how motivated the conservatives are when they no longer have their government handout. I mean it certainly cannot be considered to be a paycheck when they do so very little to earn it.

Of course a good deal of the folks representing us are millionaires so I’m sure they won’t miss their government paychecks. In fact, there’s an idea right there. All those who can afford to work for free should decline their government paychecks and invest that money back into the country. Of course they won’t because they are too greedy.

I have a few ideas about how to save the economy, pay down the deficit and get those rich folks tax breaks all while putting people back to work. Sounds like a win win scenario, doesn’t it? You can read them here.