Comic for Thursday, March 9th, 2006

Posted: 7:42 am, Thursday, March 9th

I'm sure you were all wondering how Jen's sweater was coming, so here's an update. More likely, you'd figured I had totally forgotten Jen's sweater. Meh, what can you do?

So, between Tek and Papi, I think we're Red Sox 10, rest of the world, 2 in the World Baseball thing. Team USA's chances really took a hit when A-Rod decided to play for them. I don't know if Vegas is taking bets on this thing or not, but that should've been the tip to put the farm on "Not Team USA" winning.

Two things from the oddly named Charlotte alt-weekly Creative Loafing, courtesy the Grafe Wire Service. First, the powers-that-be in the Queen City went against C. William's column from just about a year ago advising against the NASCAR museum at a cost to the taxpayers. Creative Loafing spells out the ridiculousness of not only the promised financial windfall but basically the promised financial windfall of just about any huge event promised to a city at a nominal cost to the taxpayers. (Which, unless I'm mistaken on this, is the one thing the San Francisco Giants have going for them right now - sure, they've turned a blind eye to one of the best ballplayers of all time ruining himself with steroids because it brought good box office, but they did at least pay for their beautiful new stadium without taking taxpayer money.)

Next, from Creative Loafing: Point. And, from Drink at Work: Counterpoint.

I haven't gotten around to asking, but did you guys know that the average age of a New York City prosecutor is 28 years? At least they've got.. *conviction.* For God's sake.

The rest of today's post is more or less inspired by an Ironic tag on Fark. The headline was something to the nature of the Scooter Libby's trial being postponed or at risk or something because of national security issues. This is not actually Irony, this is Obvious. What Scooter is doing here is known as Graymail, and MSNBC, to their credit was on it a month ago (albeit reporting that it wasn't his intention to use a graymail defense), as was, less surprisingly, the Nation. A halfway decent definition of graymail is here at Wikipedia, and I'm sure some of the lawyers in the room may be bale to chip in more on this - I heard that if Libby requests documents that cannot be released because of national security interests, his case can actually be dismissed on a technicality because he's being withheld evidence he needs to prove his innocence. Also note from the Wikipedia article that the master of graymail, Ollie North's lawyer, has been hired by Libby. HUH!

Alright, well, that was depressing. Let's move on. It looks like they're remaking Just One of the Guys. I'm willing to bet Tree's life that Amanda Bynes does not rip her shirt open in the final scene of this one.

bullfrog

i absolutely loved just one of the guys. i thought it was such a masterpiece. i am sorry that amanda bynes is playing the lead. her anorexia is so distracting.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of my stores-can't-require-a-minimum-for-credit-cards rant, here is a little article:

"There are many convenience stores that charge small fees for using a debit or credit card when customers do not spend a certain dollar amount. For example, one store said they would charge me $0.75 if I used my Visa debit card to buy a soda, because I did not spend enough. I told the store clerk that she cannot impose a minimum purchase requirement when I used my Visa card and she simply laughed at me. Or was I wrong? Keiko C.

You are correct. Merchants accepting Visa or MasterCard credit or debit cards are not allowed to set a minimum amount for using the card; that is a violation of the merchant agreement.

"People want to use their cards for smaller ticket transactions,” MasterCard’s Barbara Coleman tells me, and the credit card companies want to make sure they can.

Even so, as you found out, some stores try to impose a limit. What can you do? In your case, you can report the merchant to the financial institution that issued your Visa card.

You raised another interesting question. Can a merchant charge you a service fee for using a credit card or debit card? There is no federal regulation that prohibits this. The law that prohibited a surcharge on credit card purchases expired back in 1984. But both Visa and MasterCard say it would be a violation of their rules for a store to tack on a service fee for using one of their cards. A merchant can offer a discount for paying by cash or check, but they cannot charge more for putting it on plastic.

Note: This service fee rule does not cover paying your federal income tax by credit card. A “convenience charge” is permitted on these tax payment transactions."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11697094/

So I missed the ND - Georgetown game yesterday due to being somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on a plane...from the looks of it, its a darn good thing I missed it as I would have pulled more than a few hairs out. Well, the season ended the way it went.

and I'd LOVE a 5 bucks pool. count me in. probably the Mr. too.

I was wondering where the hell you were during that. I guess I'm still wondering - where the hell were you?

I'm sorry, I'm about to be a big fat Art History dork right now. This article appeared on the front page of the the Times (below the fold, but still), and feature (among others) my thesis advisor, Dr. Frima Fox Hofrichter. It's about the 7th edition revision of Janson's A History of Art, of which she revised the Baroque and Rococo portion. The article probably won't interest many of you, but we're all very proud so I'm linking to it anyway.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/arts/design/ 07jans.html?ex=1142571600&en=40fb38867f18d1ae&ei=5070&emc=et a1

Was in Jamaica.

beach, sun, frothy drinks being brought to me as I laid around doing absolutely nothing for 5 straight days. heaven. I want to go back, please?

I think I was happier not knowing where you were. Sonofabitch.

She damn well better.

I agree with SKT on "Just on the Guys." ("Terri, back from the cult.") Anyway, I have a theory on the movie that I would like anyone to weigh in on. I am almost positive that the brother in that film based his character on the bellhop in "Some Like It Hot." Which for a random 80's movie is darn subtle. It takes the film to a whole 'nother level.

Tree, I think you should write a critical review of the movies of the 80s, taking into account the culture in which they were made and what they draw off of from film history. I can think of no one better to do this than you.

I've been looking at Go Fug Yourself from time to time this week, checking out the disasters that stars wore to the Oscars, but this is the first post that's really hit me. I like to put my hands in my pockets. Usually jacket pockets, since I can keep them in there when I walk easier, but jeans pockets, too.

Which is why, besides the obvious reason that I would make a very unattractive girl, it's a good thing I'm not a girl. Because then I'd wind up wearing a dress like this, and getting my picture on snarky websites.

http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourse lf/2006/03/oscar_fugshion__1.html

whoa whoa whoa. let's not go too crazy on the pockets. i thought they were freaking brilliant. i like a little utility in the midst of glamour.

anyone need a tampon?

sandra bullock's got one in her pocket!

ah! my lips are so chapped!

here's some chapstick, offers amy adams.

it's cool. trust me.

Where have all the good guys gone?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/a rticle/2006/03/08/AR2006030802251.html

bullfrog et al.: Random question. When is the last time you bought a CD? Like an album, at a store.

The crazy bitch is making shit up - the Hoff would never hit a woman. Unless she were endangering someone's life on the LA beaches. Or if she were interfering with his detective agency.

Tree: Christmastime. Got 2.0 the Fiona Apple and Edan CDs. For my own use... Um. Last May, maybe? Sleater-Kinney's album, I think.

Last summer sometime - I was driving back from a rural courthouse and the radio was not so good.

I figured KITT wouldn't let him do it.