Sad But True

I love when a "study" comes out that confirms what everybody with eyes can see in a heartbeat. Wealthy people have no ethics or scruples to match their greed. People who drive expensive cars are the most arrogant pricks on the road. Large sums of money give people feelings of greater entitlement. Earth shattering.

My favorite part is the end here, where it says they can't figure out if being wealthy brings this bad behavior to the fore, or if people become wealthy because they are miserable bastards without any regard for others to begin with. Kind of a "chicken or the egg" argument.

Conclusion? It seems like a vicious cycle.

No shit.

At last, an explanation for Wall Street's disgrace, Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme and other high-society crimes and misdemeanors: A new study published in the Proceedings of that National Academy of Sciences found that wealthier people were more apt to behave unethically than those who had less money.

Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley analyzed a person's rank in society (measured by wealth, occupational prestige and education) and found that those who were richer were more likely to cheat, lie and break the law than those who were poorer.

"We found that it is much more prevalent for people in the higher ranks of society to see greed and self-interest … as good pursuits," said Paul Piff, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate at Berkeley. "This resonates with a lot of current events these days."

In the first of two studies, researchers found that those who drove more expensive cars (an admittedly questionable indicator of economic worth) were more likely to cut off other cars and pedestrians at a busy San Francisco four-way intersection than those who drove older, less-expensive vehicles.

In other experiments, wealthier study participants were more likely to admit they would behave unethically in a variety of situations and lie during negotiations. In another, researchers found wealthier people were more likely to cheat in an online game to win a $50 prize.

Greed is a "robust" determinant of unethical behavior, according to the study.

"This has some pretty clear implications," said Piff. "Inequality is very much on Americans' minds, and the potential effects of severe inequality on individual levels of behavior are major."

Large sums of money may give people greater feelings of entitlement, causing those people to be the most averse to wealth distribution, Piff continued. Poorer people may be less likely to cheat, because they are more dependent on their community at large, he said. In other words, they don't want to rock the boat.

"People in power who are more inclined to behave unethically in the service of gains and self-interest can have great effects on society as a whole," said Piff.

And it's difficult to say whether richer people get to the top because of their unethical behavior or whether wealth causes people to become this way. "It seems like a vicious cycle," he said.

[ABC News]

Fun For The Whole Family

I often read about videos gone "viral" and this is one of the best ones I've ever seen. The headline of this article says "DERANGED MAN GETS SHOWERED WITH PEPPER SPRAY AT DISNEYLAND." Sometimes when people describe videos as "viral" I think that means people aren't really watching what is going on.

If you click the link at the bottom you can go to the page and watch the four minute video yourself. A few observations. At the beginning, the guy punches a security guard of some type so I can't criticize the initial hit of pepper spray. What is up with that white fedora-type hat? Is this what security guards wear? It looks odd to me, and maybe the "deranged" guy thought he was talking to a Disney character of some kind rather than a security guard.

Next you can see the guy is laying on the ground, helpless, and the guy in the white hat continues to pepper spray him anyway. He seems to really be enjoying it! Then the guy gets up and he's just wiping his eyes and otherwise recovering. The white hat guy is directing him to sit down and the guy is just standing there. Then the white hat guy pepper sprays him again! HE'S JUST STANDING THERE. What was that saying, "sticks and stones can break my bones...?" The guy was just TALKING and he gets another blast in the face. Seems excessive, and this sets the guy off all over again.

Finally when the white hat guy knocks him down, THEN the bystanders get courageous and join in pummeling the guy, no doubt anticipating some Disney driven reward for helping out. Even though this is happening at Disney World, there are no kids to be seen, only young slackers who can stand around goofing on the guy instead of having real jobs or doing anything useful with their lives. Despite the absence of children, you can hear a woman on there shrieking about children being around. SHE should've been pepper sprayed as well, just to shut her up.

All in all a powerful statement on where we are as a nation today. A drunken pepper sprayed mess, rolling around on the ground while being ridiculed by unemployed bystanders and screaming moms.

A 53-year-old man went berserk outside the Tower of Terror at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim this past weekend and repeatedly got pepper-sprayed, temporarily providing an attraction called, "What Happens When You Get Drunk at Disneyland and Throw Punches at Security." The four-minute video shows a pretty pathetic scene that includes commentary from one guy who speculates on the man's drink of choice, and a loud woman who lays on some thick moral outrage. "There are kids here," she yells. "Does this guy not get that? You’re in Disneyland!" Surprisingly self-aware, Glenn Horlacher, the man who's been booked for assault and battery, shouts, "I know where I am at!"

[New York Magazine]

More Adventures In Idiocy

Saw this on Fox Sports. Kite surfing is a sport now? I put it up there with bungee jumping. I suppose real life lacks excitement for some people. It's funny to read something like this and think about whether the person would've been better off doing some binge drinking? Plus what if this idiot crashed through a window and hurt someone? How is this legal?

I'm sure the police were "complaining of pain" as well. As in "pain in the ass." Thank God the building wasn't hurt.

A kite surfer was hospitalized Sunday after losing control in the air and colliding with a building in Palm Beach, Fla.

The surfer, who has not been identified, was swept into the lakeside one-story building as strong winds gusting as high as 31 mph buffeted the area, The Palm Beach Post reported.

A West Palm Beach police spokeswoman said the surfer was taken to nearby St. Mary's Medical Center after complaining of pain.

There was no damage to the building, the spokeswoman added.

[foxsports.com]

Truth In Advertising

I usually stay away from stories involving actual illness and death, but this one was too good to let go. Usually the problem is that advertising is all about lying, misleading people, and creating fear. This advertising is none of the above. Says "Heart Attack Grill" and the guy had a frigging heart attack. This is actually brilliant - you can't even sue. They are flat out saying what they serve is bad for you. If you're dumb enough to eat it, you're dumb enough to keel over and die. Figures that in America this place would be a big success.

It really fits with Vegas because it's all about excess, but I've never associated Vegas with GLUTTONY or overeating. Who goes to Vegas to do this? I haven't been there in awhile but I thought Vegas was all about other forms of overindulgence. Time for me to change my thinking. Again. God I'm tired.

LAS VEGAS - Laughing tourists were either cynical or confused about whether a man was really suffering a medical episode amid the "doctor," "nurses" and health warnings at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas, a restaurant owner said Wednesday.

"It was no joke," said Jon Basso, who promotes himself "Doctor Jon," his scantily-clad waitresses as nurses and customers as patients.

Basso said he could tell right away the man in his 40s eating a Triple Bypass burger was having trouble. He was sweating, shaking and could barely talk.

Paramedics were called Saturday night, fire spokesman Tim Szymanski said, and the man was hospitalized. His name and information about his condition weren't made public.

Giggles can be heard on the soundtrack of amateur video showing the man on a stretcher being wheeled out of the restaurant where patrons pass an antique ambulance at the door and a sign: "Caution! This establishment is bad for your health."

Eaters are given surgical gowns as they choose from a calorically extravagant menu offering "Bypass" burgers, "Flatliner" fries, buttermilk shakes and free meals to folks over 350 pounds.

Basso said he hopes the man is OK, and added that he felt bad for him because tourists treated his misfortune like a joke.

"We would never pull a stunt like that," he said.

[Associated Press]

Less Is More, Except On This One Particular Issue

The funny part is reading about Romney changing his mind on an issue that is usually in the forefront of political debate. I guess he's forgotten about that close family relative who died. Maybe they weren't that close after all?

The downer part is that we have a group of politicians clamoring for "less government." They want the government out of our lives and off the backs of business. But here, when it comes to abortion, they want the government to tell you what to do.

You can almost hear the gears grinding in Romney's head. Santorum...winning...he is...pro-life...so I...must be...pro-life. For all the talk of progress in the world let's imagine which one of these guys could hold a candle to any of the Founding Fathers, in terms of ideals and political eloquence, if there is such a thing? Even the bad ones?

WASHINGTON — From the moment he left business for politics, the issue of abortion has bedeviled Mitt Romney.

In 1994, as a Senate candidate, he invoked the story of a “close family relative” who had died after an illegal abortion and insisted that abortion should be “safe and legal,” though he was personally opposed. In 2002, while running for governor of Massachusetts, he sought the endorsement of abortion rights advocates, promising to be “a good voice” among Republicans, one advocate said.

In 2005, Governor Romney shocked constituents by writing an opinion article in The Boston Globe that declared: “I am pro-life.” Running for president two years later, he struggled to explain that turnabout. “I never said I was pro-choice, but my position was effectively pro-choice,” Mr. Romney told George Stephanopoulos of ABC during a Republican debate. “I changed my position.”

Now, with the nation’s culture wars erupting anew, Mr. Romney has plunged headlong into abortion politics.

He tangled with President Obama last week over whether religiously affiliated hospitals should be required to provide free contraceptives — “abortive pills,” Mr. Romney called them. And when a breast cancer group pulled its financing from Planned Parenthood, Mr. Romney called on the federal government to follow suit, saying, “The idea that we’re subsidizing an institution that provides abortion, in my view, is wrong.”

The comments reflect Mr. Romney’s evolution from abortion rights advocate to abortion foe; gone was any trace of the candidate for governor who, 10 years ago, answered a Planned Parenthood questionnaire by saying he backed “state funding of abortion services” under Medicaid.

Today Mr. Romney is working hard to convince his party’s skeptical right wing that he is “adamantly pro-life,” especially in the wake of his embarrassing loss in three states last week to Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania and a stalwart of the anti-abortion movement. Yet the more Mr. Romney courts social conservatives, the more two of his Republican rivals, Mr. Santorum and Newt Gingrich, dredge up his past to attack him as a flip-flopper.

Meanwhile, Democrats and their allies are painting Republicans, including Mr. Romney, as “a radical bunch when it comes to women’s health” who are “going backward on birth control,” as Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in an interview last week. If that message sticks, it could hurt Mr. Romney with women and independents, a critical voting bloc in a general election.

[New York Times]

Litany Of Failure

I write these downers and this website is not that popular, which is a downer.

Donald Trump is talked to like he is a statesman, which is a downer, and he is still around on his own without Palin, which makes it double downer. Hilarious that Trump thinks his endorsement was the key factor in Romney's victory in Nevada, but somehow between Nevada and today the Trump magic wore off? Maybe someone should've asked Trump if it just took a little time for his endorsement to really hurt Romney? Listening to Trump talk about a role in the Romney administration is moving into new downer territory. That we live in a world where Trump talks this way without anyone slapping him and telling him to shut up. An epic vortex that will suck us all in.

Santorum won a few primaries. He believes climate change is a scheme concocted by the radical left to take over your life. In 2008 Santorum endorsed Romney. It's a downer, but for Santorum it's not that much of a downer even if he loses because he's making over a million dollars a year as a consultant for industry interest groups and corporate director fees. If he wins it's just gravy but probably a downer for the rest of us.

Romney lost but is still worth over $100 million. You can't really put "lost" and "worth over $100 million" in the same sentence now can you? If Romney is elected it may be a downer for the rest of us but you can't really call it a downer for Romney because he still has the $100 million. This is a super downer if you don't like Romney because he's impervious to your dislike. If he loses he's loaded and if he wins he's loaded and he gets to tell you what to do. If he lost he would probably be failing UP because he can make more money without anyone bugging him about ethics and taxes. Win win for Mitt and down down for me.

Before the results came in for Tuesday night’s sweeping victory for Rick Santorum, real estate mogul and reality television star Donald Trump did not give the former Pennsylvania senator much thought on his impact in the Republican field.

On Wednesday, Trump noted Santorum's last Senate race where he lost reelection by a wide margin, saying it was like failing a test and then applying to the Wharton School of Economics.

“I don’t get Rick Santorum,” Trump said on CNN’s Early Start. “I don’t get that whole thing.”

Before the Nevada primary, Trump came out in support of Mitt Romney, and has since taken credit for Romney’s showing in the Silver State. Although it is not as stunning as Herman Cain’s Department of Defense dreams, the Donald offered his own take on what role he would serve in a Romney administration.

“Maybe a position where I negotiate against some of these countries because they're really taking our lunch,” he said.

[National Journal]

We Are All Idiots And This Means You Too

Here are government officials, and every day they tell you about trimming the budget. Cutting costs. Laying people off. Ruining lives. But hey, wait a minute, the Giants won the Super Bowl! So now we have money for parades and all this crap. In addition to the Canyon of Heroes (and resulting overtime cleanup, which New Yorkers can afford, as long as they don't pay for schools) there will be ANOTHER party in New Jersey, and I'm sure Christie found room in the budget for it, all the while pontificating about fiscal responsibility.

What a douche this guy is, he has to be in with Joe Six Pack on the Super Bowl, while he is not making any payments into the State Pension, which is in arrears for billions. So you workers who are going to retire and discover a big fat zero in your account, eff off, you socialist! Clean up that ticker tape. You're LUCKY TO HAVE A JOB (this is the mantra of America today).

Christie is going to be down with the GIANTS. And you, New Jersey citizen, you can pay for it, because I said so. In your face, common decency!

Like the Empire State Building or Central Park, a Super Bowl ticker-tape Giants parade is meant only for Manhattan, a poll released Friday says.

The survey of nearly 1,000 New Yorkers found 75% believed a Big Blue bash belonged in the Big Apple, compared with just 14% who supported a romp in the swamps of New Jersey.

“With apologies to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ... New Yorkers want Mayor Bloomberg to host a ticker-tape parade if our New York Giants win the Super Bowl,” said Maurice Carroll, direction of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“Of course, Mayor Mike can always invite Gov. Christie to join us — if he pays his toll.”

The support crossed all age, gender and borough lines, with widespread backing for a Canyon of Heroes repeat of the 2008 celebration that greeted the champion Giants.

Christie had loudly lobbied for a Garden State parade to honor Big Blue if they can defeat the Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown

.[Daily News]

Don't Get Sick Unless You Have Money

Personally I can't afford to get sick. But this is too much. People pay for iPads because they want them, not because they are going to die if they don't get one. And where does $900 equal $1,000,000?

The article points out that Santorum is the father of a child with a genetic disorder, but it SHOULD say Santorum is a guy with MONEY who is the father of a child with a rare genetic disorder. That's a different ballgame than what this lady and her kid are dealing with.

My question is...does this help Santorum's candidacy? That he can look a sick kid in the eye and tell him to get lost? Or does it hurt him? If I'm his campaign manager I would lock him in a closet and tell everyone he was sick, but I don't know how long that would work. And then what? You'd have to let him out someday. Or would you? Hmmmm.

GOP contender Rick Santorum had a heated exchange with a mother and her sick young son Wednesday, arguing that drug companies were entitled to charge whatever the market demanded for life-saving therapies.

Santorum, himself the father of a child with a rare genetic disorder, compared buying drugs to buying an iPad, and said demand would determine the cost of medical therapies.

"People have no problem paying $900 for an iPad," Santorum said, "but paying $900 for a drug they have a problem with - it keeps you alive. Why? Because you've been conditioned to think health care is something you can get without having to pay for it."

The mother said the boy was on the drug Abilify, used to treat schizophrenia, and that, on paper, its costs would exceed $1 million each year.

[ABC News]