Structured Ramblings

When your credit card wont scan it is not the fault of the clerk.  You may want to blame the machine, hell when faced with your misplaced fury we might want to blame the machine.  But let me assure you that there is no wrong way to run a credit card that will make it unreadable every single time it is swiped and the odds that it's just that worn out are pretty damn strong. (not to mention, your fault!)   As a clerk (and one who owns the store and chose the cc company and equipment we use I might add) part of the job is to run credit cards.  All.  Damn.  Day.  Long.

Are you getting it?  So, when using a machine that will allow us to manually type in the card number the security feature is to also input the zip code and the number part of the address that the bills go to.  If you do not give us the correct information then you cannot use the card.  It's that simple. 

Trust you?  Ha!  And when you act like the situation is my fault you can Bite me sweetheart.  

Don't bother. They do it for you!

Members of the anti-war group Code Pink gathered Friday with a cauldron of flowers outside a controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Berkeley, Calif., to use witchcraft to rally against the Iraq war.

Code Pink members unfurled a pink banner reading "Troops Home Now" and waved signs as they began the protest, which they promised would include incantations and pointy hats for a "witches, crones and sirens" day.

"Women are coming to cast spells and do rituals and to impart wisdom to figure out how we're going to end war," Zanne Sam Joi of Bay Area Code Pink told FOXNews.com.

A few women stood outside the recruiting center Friday with signs that read "Peace" and "Warmongers — Eating Our Children for Profit." Many wore pink T-shirts.

Others pulled out a cauldron filled with flowers from a car draped with a pink sheet.

Can they be any more stupid?  It must be nice to have so much time on ones hand to waste with such frivolous stupidity.  I should be so lucky.  'Course I'd spend all that extra time being, oh, productive rather than senseless.  

Amgen and Wyeth’s Enbrel to Carry ‘Black Box’ Warning on TB Risk

Amgen Inc and Wyeth’s Enbrel arthritis and psoriasis drug will carry a new “black box” warning about the risk of serious infections that may lead to hospitalization or death, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday.

Enbrel is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The drug is made from a type of protein called a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker that blocks the action of a substance made by the body’s immune system called TNF. People with the diseases listed above have too much TNF in their bodies. The drug was first approved in 2000 for rheumatoid arthritis and its use was later expanded to treat psoriasis and other rare autoimmune disorders.

Amgen and Wyeth both alerted doctors about Enbrel’s black box warning in a March 14 letter. Now the warnings appear on the FDA’s Website.

“Patients who develop an infection should be evaluated for appropriate antimicrobial treatment and, in patients who develop a serious infection, Enbrel should be discontinued,” the FDA said in a statement on its Web site.

Enbrel’s label warns patients and doctors about tuberculosis, bacterial sepsis and other infections in patients taking the drug. The label also recommends teaching patients taking Enbrel about infection symptoms, monitoring them for infection during and after treatment with Enbrel and screening them for tuberculosis before and during Enbrel treatment.

The concern over TB isn't so much an issue in the US but it can be if you travel.  I've been to Mexico and Central America as well as Aruba since being on Enbrel and didn't really consider the fact that TB is most likely contracted in other countries.  At my next doctors visit I'll request another TB test I think although I'm not worried.  I'm thinking that TB infections may have gone up in Enbrel patients recently?  That could warrant this new concern.   

Obama calls Voter ID ruling "wrong"

From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Obama said he was disappointed today in the new Supreme Court decision that has upheld Indiana's voter ID law, calling it "wrong," and emphasizing that the law could suppress turnout among minorities and poorer voters.

"I am disappointed by today's Supreme Court decision upholding Indiana's photo identification law — one of the most restrictive in the nation," Obama said in a written statement.

He referenced his decision to file an amicus brief when Indiana's voter ID law was first challenged, saying he did it because he believed that "it places an unfair burden on Indiana residents who are poor, elderly, disabled, or members of minority groups."

My question to Obama is "How?"  Specifically, how is the act of showing ID before voting an "unfair burden"?  If one drives to the polling place, it stands to reason they have their drivers license on them.  Is it a "burden" to dig it out of a wallet or purse?  Do the elderly or the poor not possess ID?  Do you not need ID to obtain government assistance?  Do you not need ID for Social Security?  

Why, Obama, should voting be any different than cashing one's Social Security or Welfare check?  (using the reasons he cites)   

Would someone tell Jeremiah Wright? 

 I've no respect for Klan members, skinheads and racists like Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan.  Yep, Wright and Farrakhan are in the same league with skinheads and klan members.  Despicable, each one of them.  

If I see any of you toss a cigarette butt on the ground in my parking lot and then come in my store I will add a charge to whatever you are buying. I'm not your frickin mom to clean up after you, you irresponsible SOB. The world is not your ashtray and unless you haven't noticed all the trees, you are in an area that could easily go up like a tinderbox if you do that in the wrong area and if the wind kicks up.  

USE YOUR FRICKIN BRAIN FOR ONCE WILL YA?

 So I'm in Sams Club yesterday browsing through the books when I see this:

It's so blatantly obvious that someone did this on purpose.  Curious to see what book someone couldn't stomach the sight of, I turn one around:

Sorry for the blur but this is from my phone cam and I was laughing at the time….    

Tomorrow the Olympic Torch will be in San Francisco and while the protests were peaceful today (must not have been any Code Pinko's in the crowd) I'm curious if that will extend into tomorrow.   It was on the news tonight that I heard it referred to as a "bloody torch".   Regardless of wanting to boycott the Olympics because of China, the torch is a symbol and it's not a symbol of China.  While it has many meanings it's simply a tradition.  This attacking of the torch is completely short-sighted and just shows that people aren't operating with full decks these days.  

Boycott the Olympics if you want but leave the torch runners alone.